Monsters In Waiting
by Zelda Zonkk
Summary: Everyone has a monster in them, hissing and snarling. Mine was only recently discovered. He kept me grounded and sane for the most part. Only sometimes, monsters have a mind of their own. GodricxOC.
1. Meeting Godric

**Prologue - Meeting Godric  
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"_En vampyr är aldrig i händerna på sina känslor. Han dominerar dem."_

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_The rain was pattering against the window, heavy and hard. Marilyn walked over to the ancient cash register and smiled at me, her wrinkled skin stretching, her red lipstick slightly smudged. She was old, very old, but she still looked after herself as if she were my age. Her blonde hair was twisted into a updo-hairstyle, similar to my bun. She took the bar of chocolate from my hands, scanning it and frowning in concentration as she tried to read the price.

"Em, would you mind running down that aisle and grabbing that slim black box for me? I can't see nothin' without my readin' glasses," she frowned, scratching her head.

I spun on my heels, walking down the aisle, searching for the mysteriously well-hidden box. Someone entered, the bell at the door ringing twice and the sound of the sign saying 'open' or 'closed' slamming against the window of the door, to let Marilyn know a customer was here. He walked too fast – at least, too fast to be human that is. I doubted Marilyn was used to having vampires in here, because she jumped when he suddenly appeared at the counter. I had to admit, I'm weary around them, being a 'blood-bag' and all, but that's because Dallas is a big place. It's filled with them, really. At night time the city is crawling with them in certain vampire bars, whereas in other areas they're never seen.

"Do you have any TruBlood's? A Negative, preferably?" the vampire asked quickly, his voice dark and depressive.

His hair was sticking up everywhere, probably because of the rain and from running his hands through it. He seemed desperate, his eyes dark as he scanned the room and spotted me. The ghost of a smirk crossed his face. Cold, calculating and…lost. His skin was as pale as mine, but of course, since I had warm blood it wasn't exactly the same.

"I'm sorry sir, we don't serve that here," Marilyn whispered.

The vampire let out a frustrated sigh and growled deeply. "What, you don't 'serve my kind' here, in this little shithole of a store?" He took a menacing step forward, to which Marilyn calmly stayed strong.

"Sir, this is my store, and it is not a 'shithole'. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave," she breezed calmly, not breaking eye-contact with him. Wow, she had some nerve to do that. I would've peed my pants facing such an angry vamp.

"Fine, whatever. Shithole," the vampire cursed, turning and storming out. Not before he passed the aisle beside mine, only some fruit and canned food on a shelf separating us. He gave me a…smile, of sorts. But it was a much darker, self-absorbed sort of smile. Like he had found exactly what he was looking for.

He left, the 'open' sign hitting against the window and the bell ringing as he slammed the door. My eyes, I realized, were as wide as saucers as I'd watched him leave. Shaking myself from that daydream, I walked back to Marilyn after picking up the glasses and handing it to her.

"Gee Marilyn, you had some guts."

Marilyn's eyes trailed from looking at the door, to me, and she almost deflated as she let out a long, deep breath and laughed hollowly. "It ain't guts sweetheart. That was pretty darn scary if I say so myself. He sure had some ants in his pants!"

I chuckled at her choice of words and nodded. "Suppose. Maybe he's just…I dunno, thirsty?"

Marilyn nodded and took the glasses, putting them on. I could have just told her how much the chocolate was, but then Marilyn would have been looking for her glasses for hours after I'd left.

"Thanks Emilie," she smiled as I handed her the due amount. Only a dollar or so, nothing too much. She hugged me before I left, telling me to make sure I kept in touch with her. Dallas was a big place for someone like Marilyn, used to small towns and still trying to figure out how to work something as basic as the ancient cash register. That thing was truly old, she'd had it since I was a kid, honestly.

"See you later, Marilyn!" I waved, locking the door after me and heading towards my car. It was black, sleek and reflected some of the light from the store. I yawned. Jeez. I'm tired and it's barely 10 o' clock, so much for being an eighteen-_almost_ nineteen year old. Lame.

Pulling my keys from my grey jumper, sighing because it reached my tights and I had to juggle my chocolate and try not to drop it, I hummed an aimless tune to myself. Well, I did until I was slammed against the car forcibly, dropping the chocolate and keys. Grunting, I turned to face this attacker, thinking someone was trying to mug me at first.

They weren't; it was the vampire.

He grinned at me, his fangs extended. "You'll have to do."

I squeaked, meaning to sound tough and unafraid of him. "Back off, you creep!"

"That's no way to talk to your new Master," he replied, rolling his eyes. "That's just rude."

I was building up a scream in my throat, loud enough to startle Marilyn, maybe get her to call someone for help. I was desperate, anything to get this vampire away from me. Just as I was about to let it out and thrash against him, he hit me. Right in the centre of my stomach, knocking all the air from my lungs, the scream vanishing completely and making me crash to the ground. He caught me though, wrapping his arms around mine and pushing me against the car.

"No so fast. This will take up some valuable time."

"Get away from me," I winced, intending for it to come out as a threatening growl. Unfortunately, it hurt to breathe in too deeply. He was so _cold_. Freezing, and he bent down to look me right in the eye.

"This has to happen. I'm bored with being alone. I need a companion," he said simply.

This was why I was going to die – because he was _bored_, was it?

It hurt, so badly, when he kept hitting. He was careful to make sure it wasn't entirely hard enough to break anything, or kill me. He was planning on turning me himself, laughing when I let out a cry. God, he hadn't even bitten me yet and everything _burned_ with pain. I managed to kick him, when he had been so focused on twisting my arm, which only spurred him on. Eventually I couldn't even see straight.

"Finally. Took much longer than I expected," he sighed, as if he were the one who had been beaten up. I wished Marilyn could see me and call for the police, or someone, anyone to help. But Marilyn was half-deaf, she probably didn't hear a thing.

He lowered himself to the ground beside me as I choked on a little bit of blood in my mouth.

"This will hurt me more than you, you know," he said, smiling, the hint of a European accent in his voice. "It'll be hard to stop. Your blood smells great. Really delicious."

'_Oh gee, thanks Mr. Vampire_,' I thought bitterly, clutching the gravel on the ground.

His fangs came out again with a sharp _click_, and he grinned once at me before raising his head, all ready to bite me. The world was going grey around me, and I didn't really care anymore. There comes a point when you're in so much fuzziness and pain that you don't care – at least that's how it was for me.

And then, just as he was about to bite me, his head was snapped in a split second. That was it; he was dead, and he slumped beside me. His eyes looked brighter now, as they turned cold and dead. I stared into them, unable to look away. All humans do it, when they see something horrible, they find it hard to look away. Instead, they stare with wide eyes and dropped jaws in shock and horror.

"G-Godric," a voice gasped. "Won't you get into trouble for that?"

"I am Sherriff of this area," another replied in a solemn, dark accent. "He was killing this human. I acted upon my better judgment is all, Isabel."

"Stan is going to be mad that he missed this," the voice now called 'Isabel' murmured to herself.

"Go, Isabel. Find Stan and return to the nest. I will…deal with this mess," Godric responded. I think that's what Isabel called him, though it was kind of hazy.

"You mean…" Isabel trailed off, almost afraid to say what I think she was referring to. Turn me, of course.

"I suppose I'll have to. My blood wouldn't heal all of this in enough time. She has lost far too much blood for that. He made sure of it," Godric replied through gritted teeth. "Go now, Isabel. Do not make me ask again."

"Yes, Godric."

There was a whooshing sound, before I felt a cold hand – though not as freezing and rough as the other vampire's – turn me over on my back to face him. I stared into his eyes, dazed, confused…scared. Afraid. Terrified. My heart was still hammering – which I hope is a good sign, really – though it wasn't as quick as it should be. It was slowing down.

Quite suddenly, Godric's fangs extended. He was beautiful anyway. Not like this other vampire, even if he had the same pale skin. His eyes were grey in the light, sad and soft, and his mouth was in a frown as if this pained him more than me, his dark hair covering his eyes slightly. Rain dripped from his hair, to his nose and down to me. It was still raining? I had been so concerned with the pain I hadn't noticed.

"I apologize for what he has done to you, ma'am."

I choked a little as I laughed, and Godric raised an eyebrow. "Ma'am?" I murmured weakly. "Not ma'am. Emilie."

"Then I am sorry, Emilie."

I nodded, though it was not his fault at all.

"I must turn you," he said. "You would be a…companion of Death just as Eric was."

'_Who is Eric?_' I wondered. I found it hard to focus on Godric, feeling like I wanted to sleep. Hm. Dying outside of Marilyn's sounded less than glamorous, even if she was quite glamorous at times herself, if I'm honest.

"Once again, I am sorry Emilie."

Then, in the sudden silence with just the rain pattering, he bit me, and made me into a monster.


	2. Welcome To Hell

**A/N: **_New story :) Not entirely sure where I'm going with this, or if I'll continue but, hey, let's hope you guys like it! :D_

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**Chapter One - Welcome To Hell  
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"_He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?"_  
**- Friedrich Nietzsche**

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Monsters should _look _like monsters. But they rarely do anymore. Gone are the days when monsters had scaly skin, horns and fangs, wings and grim eyes. Perhaps if they're lucky, they'll have a tail. Instead, they've been replaced with beautiful, rich aristocrats who are pleasing to the eye. It's depressing to know that anyone can have a monster in them, snarling and hissing beneath the surface.

I suppose it would be harder to trust a monster if they _did _have scaly skin, horns, the works. We wouldn't be so inclined to accept them into society, either. But we do. And it won't change, not for a long time. They've come out of the coffin, fangs hidden and smiles on their faces now.

He certainly didn't look like a monster when I woke up. He was smiling at me. No fangs. No threats, or pain. Just…silence.

"How do you feel?"

I stared at him for a moment, trying to understand why breathing didn't feel entirely necessary right now. The door swung open, and Godric's eyes flashed for a moment. A woman, tanned with dark hair, stood there, frozen for a second.

She took one look at me and said, "My, she's rather beautiful."

Were I human, I would've blushed. Without warm blood, I didn't. But I felt like I was blushing. She smiled politely.

"Leave us be, Isabel," Godric murmured softly, his eyes never moving from me.

She nodded and did as he asked without a word or a second thought. Like he was her God or something. I stared at the crumpled bed sheets beneath me, scrunching them with my hands and thinking this was entirely messed up. Perhaps I'd slipped on my way as I was going to get Marilyn's glasses, hit my head on one of the shelves and was having a crazy vision of sorts. I'd wake up and Marilyn would be right there, asking if I was okay and hugging me. Yeah, that's exactly what would happen.

But when I clenched my eyes shut, counting to five and opening them again, Godric was still there. Staring.

"You didn't answer. How are you feeling?" he repeated.

"Dead."

Godric frowned. "I expected as much. You are healed, though. That is a joyful thing."

Godric spoke like someone from ancient times, and it was pretty obvious that he_ was_ from ancient times. Just how ancient, I had no idea. I felt…worn out. Exhausted and tired, and utterly fed up with how things had turned out. I was pretty grateful that I was 'alive', if you can call it that, but at the same time I didn't want to be a vampire.

"What is your full name?" Godric asked.

I held eye-contact with him. "Emilie Robins. I'm eighteen, nearly nineteen."

He laughed, a very bitter sound before he took in my confused expression and sighed. "You will always be eighteen. Never fully nineteen."

It suddenly hit me that I'd never age, though I've no idea why it never crossed my mind beforehand. I suppose I was afraid to accept that truth. I was already feeling stronger and more powerful than I could have ever understood in my life. I groaned, running my hands through my hair in frustration. Even my hair felt fuller, more alive than ever when I wasn't even alive!

"Oh…yeah..."

"I had no other choice than to turn you. Eric, my other child, was quite shocked when I told him. You must realize I haven't turned anyone in over 1000 years."

I almost gasped, but that required air, and I hadn't even bothered to breathe for a few minutes, before taking a deep breath. "1000 years…"

"I'm 2000 years old," Godric murmured simply, saying it as if it was the weather we were on about, taking in my reaction.

"Do you think I'd ever get to that age?" I laughed. That was crazy. 2000 years old? It seemed so…lonely.

"Of course. I am your Master now, Emilie."

"Great. Just great. Spectacular."

"Eric says he hopes to be here soon, he is just…hoping to get his own child to look after his business, Fangtasia. It is only new, recently built."

I snorted. "Fangtasia."

Godric laughed too, a happier laugh this time. "It doesn't sound particularly pleasant, does it? Eric has always had a very wicked sense of humour. But he is loyal." Godric's voice filled with love and hope when he spoke of Eric.

I glanced around the room. Everything looked far more defined then I remember when I was human. More colourful. Brighter. It was nice. Everything was expensive, and all colour co-ordinated. The bed was massive too, and Godric watched me curiously.

"Do you hate me for this?" Godric inquired curiously, staring at me with almost worried eyes.

I blinked, turning to face him. "…No. It's not your fault, really. I-Isabel said that…well, I just remember from before, she asked if you'd get in trouble for killing that guy..."

"William. His name was William and he'd been causing trouble with humans for as long as he existed. Isabel was only aware of half of things William was capable of, as we weren't sure of his age. I am Sheriff of Area 9, Emilie, of Dallas. I protect those in it, including you."

Protect. Now I'm one of them, aren't I? This doesn't feel like protection. It feels scary.

A man entered, his voice booming before he spotted me. He stopped talking them. And there it was, a sleazy grin on his face. He leaned against the doorway. "So this is the newest addition."

Godric nodded, apparently unfazed by this huge guy, who was obviously taller than him. "Her name is Emilie. Emilie, this is Stan."

"Hello there," he grinned, almost purring it. Day One of being a vampire kind of sucks now that he's here.

"Hey," I murmured quietly. He didn't seem to mind my quiet response, and if he did, he said nothing about it. It was silent for a moment.

"Stan," Godric said suddenly. "Is there any more news on that…group?"

Stan's gaze went from me, to Godric. "Huh? Oh, no Sheriff. They must-a been at this a long time Godric, 'cause they're pretty hard to track down."

Godric nodded and sighed. "If that's all, thank you Stan."

"Yes, Sheriff," Stan replied, nodding as well and promptly glancing at me before shutting the door.

I chewed my lip out of pure nervousness. I wasn't sure what to say, or do. Do I sit here? I'm kind of thirsty but….that feels wrong, drinking blood and all.

"Do not be nervous, child," Godric said, turning to look at me. "I'll get Isabel to bring you some TruBlood."

"How did you know I was nervous?"

"There is a bond being a maker and his child, Emilie. One you don't properly understand yet, because humans don't feel it like vampires do. Soon you will understand, as Eric does. You'll feel it."

Trying not to stare at Godric like he was insane, I stood and stretched.

"What did you mean 'group', Godric?"

He stayed silent, not meeting my eyes as he finally said, "William was just one of a larger group. We're not sure of the exact number of people. They aim to cause trouble amongst humans in areas all over America. Maybe further. But for now, they have focused on _my _area. I will neither allow it nor stand for it."

I shuffled nervously as Godric lay back on the bed, his jumper stretching and showing tattoos around his neck. He saw me looking and shrugged, not explaining.

"You may go ask Isabel for TruBlood, if you'd like Emilie. I am sure she has some lying around somewhere. And do not fear anyone; you will always be safe in this house," he murmured firmly, putting his hands behind his head and nodding as if to confirm it, closing his eyes. I wondered if he were trying to sleep.

I felt…a mixture of emotions. Betrayal. Sadness. Vague happiness that I was still alive. I've no idea why I felt betrayed though. Maybe against humans, for no one being there when I was about to die. I was confused, too. While still in a muddle, I exited the room, almost walking straight into Stan who stood near the door.

"Why hello there again, Emilie."

"Hi Stan," I said, walking past him. Everything smelled so fresh. Clean and perfect. I was still confused though.

Isabel wasn't very hard to find. She smiled at me and rubbed my shoulder in a friendly fashion. "Stan, honestly, stop stalking the poor girl. This is a traumatic time for her. Would you like me to get you some TruBlood, Emilie?"

I nodded.

Stan rolled his eyes. "I'm helpin' the kid Isabel."

"Right, right," Isabel nodded, giggling a little sarcastically. "Go wait in the living room Em."

I turned, and Stan went to follow when Isabel scolded him. I almost laughed at the annoyed look he threw her, and they began a small, unimportant argument. I sat on the L-shaped couch, sinking into it. I put one leg over the other and clasped my hands together, taking in the bright surroundings. I still felt nervous. These were all complete strangers.

Suddenly, someone grunted behind me and I jumped in fear, almost squeaking. I hadn't heard anyone come behind me, and it gave me a horrible fright, thinking these strangers in this house were really psychopaths and mass murderers. It was a crazy idea, but hey, nothing about this wasn't crazy.

In a flash, Godric appeared beside me, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.

His voice was strict as he addressed Stan, the person who had grunted behind me. "Be careful, Stan. I thought you were an intruder when I felt her fear. Don't be so careless."

Stan apologized to his Sheriff, and Godric glanced at me.

"I told you Emilie, you have nothing to fear here."

Godric took a seat beside me, almost afraid to leave I think. Stan sank into a single seat beside this one, made of the same white material. He glanced at me and grinned, showing some fang.

"Welcome to hell, kid."


	3. Senses

**A/N: **_Wow, I did not expect so many reviews so quickly! :D Hopefully I can get this up and done as quickly as possible… Enjoy!_

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**Emmy. Twilighter – **_Thanks! :D _**ShiloCoulter – **_Yay! Yeah, let's all hate on Stan :) Thanks! :D _**DarkAngel620 – **_Phew, I'm glad you liked it. :) Godric and Eric are probably my favourite characters so far in True Blood. Thanks so much :) _**SighNoMore11 – **_Thank you :)_

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_**Chapter Two – Senses**

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**_"If you take a life, do you know what you'll give? Odds are you won't like what it is. __  
__When the storm arrives, would you be seen with me? _  
_By the merciless eyes I've deceived._  
_I've seen angels fall from blinding heights, but you yourself are nothing so divine."_

- **You Know My Name, Chris Cornell**

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**She was nervous – that much was plain. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her forehead, something I previously wouldn't have noticed before. She wore far too much perfume. Or maybe, she didn't and I was just smelling it as a vampire would. She hadn't expected myself and Isabel to roll in unannounced, and her eyes were darting around the store, terrified that someone she knew would see her conversing with the undead. Maybe it was her co-workers, or her boss she was worried about.

The smell of her vanilla-scented perfume mixed in with the delicious smell of her blood – which annoyed me – and blended with the smell of the other boxes of perfume all around the store, in front of posters of models wearing dramatic make-up and promising that it was effective and your life would ultimately get better if you bought this stupid product.

Isabel had brought me here with the intention of buying bulks of TruBlood and asking this girl if she knew anything about the group that William had been a part of. Apparently, she had a run in with one of the leaders of the group and knew what she looked like.

Her eyes landed on me for a second, and I saw pure fear.

"I-I don't remember, honestly…It was real, _real_ dark, you _gotta_ understand that! Humans don't have the same eyesight as y'all do."

Her accent was more Southern than I had expected. Almost like Marilyn's. She was obviously terrified of us, though she merely squeaked when Isabel nodded. I wasn't even sure what her name was, but she was unfortunate enough to run into William's gang. And lucky enough to get away, unlike me.

"Thanks for your time," Isabel smiled.

She had bought TruBlood in large, bulky crates for the 'party' that was happening tonight. Vampires from all over were coming to Godric's, all anxious and annoyed by this group of rogue vampires. They had recently caused unease amongst humans by killing one of their own vamps and leaving him on the side of the road for humans to find. It was on the news and everything, more reason for humans to fear us. They thought that if we could turn on our own, what would stop us from turning on them and using their blood to our advantage?

Stan was waiting for us in the car. The jerk didn't even help us carry the huge boxes of TruBlood! He lazily rolled out of the car when we reached it and took a crate from me.

"Oh gee thanks, Stan. Now you decide to help," I muttered as he flung the crate carelessly into the back seat.

He shrugged. "Godric's orders were to make sure you didn't lose control and drain anyone's blood. And to buy TruBlood. And make sure you were safe. He said nothin' about helping. I'm supervisin' to make sure a beautiful kid like you doesn't get hurt."

"It was intended," Isabel piped up from the front seat of the car.

"Whatever Isabel, no one asked you," Stan grunted, getting into the car. I followed suit. "And anyway, it doesn't matter. The kid's been as good as gold today."

True. I was being very good, I think, since I hadn't actually eaten or drained anyone today. So far. That's pretty good for a newborn vampire, isn't it? Though it wasn't as if it were easy. Everyone had this delicious scent for the most part, and the annoying thing was people bleed a lot more than they think they do. A simple unknown paper-cut they weren't aware of, or they have an injury covered in bandages. The temptation was _always_ there.

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"I have so much to teach you," Godric smiled warmly as I took a seat in his study. He was flicking through some maps and books with ancient writing on it, old spines and dirty pages. "You can't even glamor yet."

"I'm not entirely sure I want to." I suppose I'm lucky to have a teacher like Godric. And plus, he was beautiful.

"I'll have to teach you Emilie. It might just save your life one day," Godric shrugged. "I would rather that than feel the pain of your death."

I stayed silent as Godric thumbed through the pages, sometimes reading them out loud in what I can only guess is Swedish or something. His eyes flitted towards me at the end of what sounded like a poem.

"That sounded...nice," I said honesty. He chuckled, that same lovely sound he had used a lot today.

"It is. It's a love poem, actually. Though humans have long forgotten it," he said, the hint of sadness in his voice.

"It must be lonely," I noted.

He laughed again, the skin at the corner of his eyes crinkling in joy as he did so. "Yes. It does get _lonely_. But nevertheless, soon Eric will arrive. He will provide entertainment, I'm sure. And anyway, I still have you, don't I?"

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Godric didn't emerge from his study until all the vampires had arrived after that little meeting. They were uneasy, and I felt intimidated as they sprawled on the couches, the chairs set up by Isabel and even on the floor. Some choose to stand, and some had their arms wrapped around an unsuspecting human victim, or possibly their mates, though that seemed rare enough.

Godric stood beside me, giving me a reassuring smile, almost as if he were reminding me of what he had repeated yesterday. _'Nothing in this house will harm you'._ Let's hope he's right.

"My friends," he greeted, addressing the entire room. "I am sure you are all well aware of this problem. I am completely furious, more than most of you, as my latest child was a victim of one particular individual member's cruelty."

The room looked at me then, and I felt myself burning up. Stan rolled his eyes behind me, grunting softly. It made me jump, stare at him and slowly move away from him. A female vampire giggled softly when she saw us.

"She's beautiful Godric. You did better this time than with that rebellious Eric," she snorted, saying Eric's name with a hint of bitterness.

"Ah, and here I thought you and I would be good friends after all this time apart, Adelais," a cool, smooth voice laughed.

Eric strolled in. I knew it was him the moment he entered, seeing Godric's eyes soften as he saw him. Like how a father looks at his son with love, really. It was touching, though Stan didn't seem to think so. I don't think he liked Eric much.

Eric was tall, with a commanding presence. He was good-looking, blonde and blue-eyed, towering over most of the people in the room. Even a few of the vampires who had actually scared me when they first came in looked unsure of what to do with his eyes roaming the room. He turned to face me.

"So," Eric said, smiling at me, almost smirking as if this were a private joke between him and I. 'Adelais', the dark-skinned, dark-haired vampire frowned at him. "This is my new sister, is it?"

He hugged me then, surprisingly. But he leaned in and whispered into my ear, saying, "Hopefully there will be no sibling rivalry, little sister."

"We'll see," I giggled, shoving him backwards. I did stronger than I had intended, causing Eric to almost fall off balance, but being a stronger vampire, he quickly fixed himself. I guess I don't know my own strength.

"You are going to be fun," he laughed viciously. I liked Eric already, but Adelais seemed to hate him.

Eric caught me staring at her and looked. "Oh come on Addie, get over it. It was like, what, five hundred years ago? We did it_ once_ and I left before it became something serious. Stop hating me for it." I think the entire room knew what he meant by 'it'. I seemed to be the only one who blushed, and Godric chuckled softly beside me.

Adelais bared her fangs but Eric didn't seem fazed and flopped down in the seat beside me, filled with confidence and self-assurance.

"As I was saying," Godric continued, giving Eric a curt nod which clear meant '_shut-up_' in a more polite form, "…they have been causing a lot of trouble for all of you."

"Trouble?" another vampire snorted, from beside Adelais. He had very bright green eyes and even paler skin beside Adelais, who only glanced in his direction. His dark blonde hair flopped into his eyes a little as he growled. "They've killed_ three _of the humans who had been to my house earlier this month and now the fucking human authorities are on _my_ ass about it Godric!"

"I understand, but as Stan has previously pointed out, they must have been at this for a long time. They are not easily tracked down. We have tried numerous things Maximus, I assure you. We were close to catching William until we came across Emilie," Godric explained. "I killed him personally for what he had done to her, and we hope that this will lure out the others who search for vengeance as William was known to be one of their leaders."

"Fuck that Godric," Maximus growled, standing. Eric was up in a flash as well, baring his teeth at the man who dared defy his creator. Godric simply waved his hand to dismiss them, as if it didn't bother him, and Eric sat back down. Maximus was not so easily distracted.

"Maximus. Please. Do not resort to your vicious instincts. We can sort this using words. Sit," Godric murmured calmly.

Maximus sighed and sat back down, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms and looking like a child put on time out. I glanced at Eric in amazement, because I found it hard to be aggressive like other vampires. Eric glanced at me and smirked, seeing my slightly impressed and scared expression.

"You'll learn," was all he said.

"How do you plan we deal with them?" Adelais asked, trying hard not to glare at Eric as she addressed Godric.

"Scout the areas. We know they are definitely in Dallas from the bodies left over and drained."

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I wish I could say that when all the vampires had left, I was fearless and unafraid of William's friends. Eric was staying, though he wasn't even sure how long himself. It had apparently been a while since he'd seen Godric. They spoke in old Swedish, my name sometimes cropping up. It seemed Eric approved of me, and found it fun to annoy me as he would if I really were his little sister.

Godric smiled at me when I frowned at Eric, who then left to go help Stan with the crates still leftover in the car.

"He used to have a baby sister," Godric murmured as he pulled out an old folder from the many filing cabinets in his study. It was old and rusty, and the folder didn't look much better. "He's naturally protective of family, as you saw when Maximus challenged me as he did. You have made quite the impression on him it seems. He approves of you, faster than I expected him too."

When I entered the living room – funny, none of us are technically _living_ yet we still call it that – Eric and Stan seemed to be staring each other down, growling deep within their throats and looking as if they were about to lunge at each other and kill one another.

"Stan, Eric. Stop it, grow up," I muttered, sitting down.

"Says the newborn," Stan replied, frowning as he left.

Eric stuck his tongue out childishly at the door where Stan had left. "Idiotisk jävel."

"Um…I don't speak Swedish but I think you called him an idiot?"

"I called him a stupid bastard. The argument was about you, actually. He says it's only a matter of time before you madly fall in love with him," Eric teased, grinning smugly. "I said you weren't blind or an idiot." Eric was probably just trying to wind me up like he had been doing all day. He took in my shocked expression and laughed at me. "No Emilie. He was saying that he's stronger than me, and would challenge me to a fight any day. You can relax now. You need to learn Swedish, and fast Emilie if you're staying with Godric."

"There is no question about it, my child," Godric breezed as he entered the room at vampire speed, which I was proudly able to track easily. "She is never leaving. Not until I believe she is strong enough and knows enough about vampires to keep herself _safe_. I assume she will be as loyal to me as you are."

I nodded and Godric smiled softly, still a little sadly as he sat beside me. I could feel that bond that he spoke of, pulling me towards him like a magnet. He felt what I felt, didn't he? If I'm honest…I'm attracted to him. I just hope he doesn't know it.

Eric clapped his hands and rubbed them together, making me realize Godric and I had been staring into each others' eyes. Oh God, I could die of embarrassment from the happy and smug look on Eric's face. Godric merely smiled at him, an equally happy smile on his face as Eric said something in Swedish before sighing and leaning back in his chair, stretching his unnaturally tall and handsome body as he put his hands behind his head and let out a contented laugh. I glanced at my beautiful 'master', who only watched Eric with an amused look on his face.

"So. This makes us something of a little vampire family, doesn't it? But I swear Emilie, I'll win if you even try to start some kind of sibling rivalry match with me."

"You're on loser!"

"We haven't even started and you're calling me a loser Emilie? Does that even make sense?"

"…Oh shut up. It does, because I know you're going to lose. So I'm calling you a loser in advance."

"Dream on Emilie." Honestly, _brothers_.


	4. A Plea To Lysus

**A/N: **_New chapter, yay! Don't know where I'm even going with this, or if I'll keep continuing it...but here goes nothing! :)  
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_ *****WARNING: Curses again!*****_

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**Review Replies – **

**Caleb's babe – **_Thanks! :D _**Kurox – **_Yay! Thanks haha :) _**Caroline – **_Well Stan is pretty mean, but that __could__ be a front! Who knows :D Thanks for the review btw :) _**ShiloCoulter – **_I'll try not to make you kill me, I hope :) Thanks anyway! :D _**Witty Nickname – **_Oopsie :D But thanks! :)_** downbelowgirl –**_We'll see… ;D :D _**DarkAngel620 – **_That's true! :) What else are siblings for? :) Thanks for the review :D_

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**Chapter Three – A Plea To Lysus **

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"_God cannot alter the past, though historians can." _  
**- Samuel Butler**

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**Godric was feeling slightly nostalgic. He sat on the couch in the dark living room, his face glowing a soft blue colour from the light coming from the TV. His eyes seemed to widen a little as the special effects came on, making this 'superhero' fly throughout the city, with it collapsing all around him dramatically. It was pretty old to me, out over a year ago. I'd gone to see it with some friends actually. Jeez. So much had changed.

I laughed as his mouth opened slightly at the sight of a giant monster falling from the sky in order to stop the superhero. That part seemed pretty lame, but all in all it was a good film. Couldn't even remember the name of it though, or some of the actors and actresses. Godric's head snapped towards me and he looked a little confused.

"What is it, Emilie? Why are you laughing?"

"Just your expression when he saves all those people. You're so amazed."

Godric looked away, smiling so much his eyes crinkled again as he laughed quietly. His laugh was more subdued, unlike Stan whose laughter boomed throughout the house in a loud, uncontrolled echo.

"I never in my years imagined humans could create something so…spectacular. It's amazing to watch, though they take it for granted now. I remember when animation first came out in fuzzy black and grey colours. I thought it was so incredible. I don't watch the TV as much as most humans, but when I do…I cannot help but be amazed at what we have created."

His eyes were still wide with amazement and fascination as the superhero gloated in the end and got the girl he'd been trying to impress all along. Eric entered, bowing respectfully to Godric. I raised an eyebrow, since I had never done that and Godric had said nothing.

"One of their members has been captured, Godric," he murmured quietly. Pssht, this is the 'brother' who got to the bathroom before me and wasted hours in there. I didn't even realize he was talking about William's 'members' until Godric asked me if I wanted to meet this man.

I'll admit, I started to tremble from something that resembled fear and panic. What if he was stronger than we gave him credit for? If he broke free from chains, would he be able to try and kill me again?

Godric put his hand on my shoulder, feeling my fear. "He is secured Emilie. Please, do not worry. I will be with you."

That was comforting. Eric strolled alongside us, and we passed Adelais along the way, who glared venomously at Eric but smiled at Godric and I. Eric stayed brooding and silent, keeping his pace alongside Godric as I walked quietly behind them. A spiralled staircase led us down to the room, with Eric's tall frame blocking most of the artificial light above until Godric flicked a switch.

It lit up the man in the centre of the room; covered in scars and tattoos, the only bits of flesh truly free from scars and tattoos being burned by silver chains. He barely looked up at us, though he was whispering something to himself.

"What is your name?" Godric asked.

"Fuck you," the man spat back, glaring up at Godric. His eyes flickered from me to Eric. "And you," this man grinned, his fangs popping out with a sharp click. Eric's popped out too, gleaming brilliantly in the light. It felt natural, when we showed our fangs to other vampires.

"I'd take that back if I were you," Eric shrugged simply.

"Eric," Godric said, "...go. Upstairs, now."

Eric looked reluctant, but God knows Eric would die before he disobeyed Godric properly. He turned on his heels and ran up at the stairs at a human pace, two steps at a time. I watched him go before I turned back to the vampire, who was surprisingly grinning back at me.

"This is yours, is it, _Godric_? Fancy. Most humans don't look attractive to me."

"She is not human."

The vampire's nose crinkled. "Ah, that explains it. She's a newborn then."

"Yes. Your leader William took care of that," Godric noted drily, his eyes staring into this man's, dark and serious. "What is your name?"

"Lysus. Old, old name, much like yours Godric. Forgotten by humans mainly. I have yet to come across another man as good as me with that name."

Good? He thought he was _good_? And a good _man_, nonetheless?

When Lysus stretched against the chains, the muscles in his back tensing, I stepped back a little, thinking that he'd break free at any moment. He certainly looked bigger than I remember William being. Darker and more…aggressive. Not afraid to die, that's the vibe he was giving out.

"Where are the others?"

"Hah, like I'd tell you. Honestly Godric, it is only because that stupid vampire child of yours managed to hit my leg. He's fast."

I glanced at the leg Lysus motioned towards, seeing it was hidden by silver. He wore dark jeans that were ripped, and had a shaved head and his tattoos were of women in various…poses, and motorcycles mainly. They looked pretty recent though. Hidden behind the scars that covered his chest. They were new.

"What's her name?"

"You could just ask me," I said before thinking. Godric felt my annoyance at being treated as if I weren't in the same room, carefully taking in every movement Lysus made.

"I do not want to hurt you, Lysus. You are an old vampire, though nowhere near as old as I am. Not even close. I am afraid that you have lost yourself to a vampire's natural instincts. It is not too late. I do not want to harm you. I am tired of harm," Godric murmured, so quietly it was like a whisper, just like a plea to Lysus.

Lysus spat at the ground and struggled in his chains, helping himself to stand up. He did tower over Godric and I – hell, even Godric was taller than I was – but he didn't quite reach Eric's height. His tattoos weren't like Godric's, obviously, and they made him even more intimidating. He stared at me.

"You are tired of harm?" he said, speaking to Godric but not taking his eyes off of me. "Then look what you have done to her, hm? Turned her into us, Godric? And you say that is not harm? I think you need to reconsider your definition of harm."

* * *

I don't know if what Lysus had said, in that grave and deep husky voice, had truly gotten to Godric, but he stayed in his study for the next few hours, refusing to let most people in bar Eric and I.

The house was quiet. Eric explained that he had patrolled the area surrounding the forest which surrounded our own house when he spotted Lysus and ran after him. Lysus was fast, but Eric could fly. We don't know if Lysus was old enough to fly, though Eric was insisting that Lysus had to be more than five hundred at least, maybe less. These vampires were far too professional not to be that old, Eric reasoned. He caught up with Lysus, snapping his leg like a twig and rendered him unable to run when he dragged him back to the house for 'questioning'.

It was hard to enjoy a TruBlood with Lysus' screams echoing throughout the house. Whatever Stan and Eric were doing, I really did not want to know. I scrunched my eyes closed, gripping my jumper and trying to ignore it. I sat in the kitchen, at the bar table on the high stool, reading a human magazine.

The main story was, 'Could you love a vampire? – The truth about _Fangbangers_ as you've never seen them before!' Isabel entered. She smiled at me until she saw the story in the magazine, wrinkling her nose at the blonde woman's beaming smile at the front. This woman believed it was morally wrong to love a vampire, and that your soul would burn in hell for eternity if you did.

Huh. I wonder what sort of punishment you get for actually _being _the vampire.

Godric finally left his study, calling for me and Eric. We went to Lysus' room, and let me tell you, his face was messed up quite badly. Eric was actually panting when we entered, with fresh blood still on his white tank top, wiping some of Lysus' blood from his face with the back of his hand, admiring his work. Lysus' left eye was swelled, and since he hadn't had blood in a while, it was taking it's sweet time healing. His lip was bust up pretty bad, too.

"It's Emilie, isn't it?" he slurred, staring at me, since he found it hard to talk with a split lip. I didn't answer him, too afraid that he was just like William. And in truth, he was, if he was in the same gang as him.

"Shut up Lysus," Eric growled, annoyed as he tried to squeeze some blood out of his blonde hair. "I told you not to talk to anyone – not Emilie, not Isabel and definitely not me." Godric stayed silent, watching everything with unnervingly calm eyes.

"I wasn't talking to you though, was I Viking?"

Eric growled, baring his fangs fully this time, though he laughed when even Lysus looked a little unsure of what to do. Eric smiled at that, his ego content for a little while.

"I am Emilie," I said, trying not to let it sound scared and like a whisper. Lysus smiled.

"I bet William enjoyed turning you, didn't he?"

"Lysus," Eric said in a warning tone.

Lysus didn't listen to him, preferring to keep his eyes firmly on me. "Will was always going on about how bored he was with simple humans, you know. Wanted a kid of his own to make things more…I don't know, interesting? The thing about your generation is you're not so different from us. You're all sheep, following in a herd. But when a sheep gets lost, that's when the wolf sweeps in, right? And just imagine what fun we'd have with a little piece of-…"

Lysus didn't get to finish his sentence, since he let out a piercing scream. I gasped a little, looking to see Godric beside me. But he wasn't – Eric was there. I stared back at Lysus, seeing his leg was re-broken – which would be impossibly slow to heal if they didn't give him any TruBlood, though Godric probably would – seeing it was Godric who had broken his leg. Not Eric. Eric stood beside me, his mouth slightly open at the sudden rush of violence Godric had let out.

Godric's eyes were dark and black, his mouth twisted into a frown as he gripped Lysus by his shoulders, bending down to stare Lysus in the face.

"You talk of this generation as if they know nothing. You are wrong. Perhaps they are not as wise as they think themselves to be, but they have certainly come a long way, Lysus. They are the New World, whether we fit in or not. Please, show this imaginary 'respect' you seem to have from your own human life that you claim use to use it so much?" Godric spat, his voice growly and threatening. Eric wasn't as unsure as I was, since he'd been with Godric far longer than I had, but he couldn't hide the slight apprehensive and shocked look on his face.

"G-Godric," Lysus growled, as he howled with pain. "I'll get you b-back for t-that…"

"I am sure you will. But it is my turn for vengeance now, Lysus, and I do not appreciate what you have said to Emilie. She is far more delicate and fragile than you, and younger than anyone in this house. You will apologize, whether of your own choice or by my force."

Lysus was strangely quiet, and when he stared into Godric's strong eyes, he didn't look as manly and tough as he liked to make out. He looked…_scared._ Really scared of Godric. And we all knew Godric could be bad when he wanted to be, but he wasn't actually _bad_. He had a good side, a better side which was the side I loved. He was a good person, always. That bad side was gone, but it seemed that when he wanted, he could use it to his advantage.

"I…apologize," Lysus said slowly.

From the tone in his voice, I wondered if he was glamoured for a second, but I didn't think vampires could do that to each other, and Lysus snapped out of it pretty quickly. I don't think he was glamoured now, from the angry look in his eyes. Can vampires glamour each other? I'd have to ask Godric. It all seemed so bloody confusing sometimes, this vampire business.

Godric stood and left the room, and after glancing at Eric who was staring at where Godric had been standing, I decided to follow Godric. Using vampire speed felt easier and more natural than human pace, so I ran into his study at that speed, stopping when I saw Godric sitting in the large leather chair with his head in his hands.

And this, was the weaker side of Godric. The side people rarely saw.

I was just beginning to see it myself. He glanced at me wearily and told me to shut the door, rubbing his jaw a little.

I did as he asked, taking a seat. After a few moments of silence, I said quietly, "Are you okay, Godric?"

"I am…okay, yes. Do not concern yourself with my troubles Emilie. I am just unsure of what to do next with Lysus. He hasn't told us anything and time is of the essence, Em."

I almost blushed when he called me 'Em', but did my best to keep my emotions in line, and kept a straight face. "But it's only been a day, Godric."

"I have made men talk in much shorter time Emilie," he muttered simply. "It is not difficult Emilie. You really must learn to be vicious."

That made me laugh a little, and soon Godric smiled.

"Godric, I don't really like violence," I said honestly. "Kind of scary, for a girl who never hit someone in her life. But I'll learn."

"If I am away, I need to know you can protect yourself, do I not? Isabel and Stan are perfectly capable. Eric even more so. But you are barely two weeks old. It's not that hard."

"Did you already know how to fight when you were turned?" I blurted, worried that I wouldn't ever be as good at fighting a vampire as Godric seemed to hope I'd be. Godric's eyes shot up to meet mine, though they were still soft and quiet. Not at all as dark as they had been when he looked at Lysus earlier.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes," I said before I could re-think it.

Godric sighed and sat up in the chair. "Very well. I hope you don't have anything planned in advance. This could take a while."


	5. Temptation

**A/N: **_So, so sorry for the late update! My bad! But eh, here you go :) I'll just reply to the reviews in PM this time because it would take way too long to do them all now :D Thanks! So much :D:D_

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**Chapter Four – Temptation**

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"_Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it._"  
- **W. Somerset Maugham**

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**He didn't look at me as he told his story, preferring to stare idly at the ground, as if a more interesting thing was going on around the fluffy carpet. His eyes widened and narrowed as he went into detail.

"They put signs around your neck Em, tied with an old piece of rope or a wiry string. Normally they had your price written on it, or who owned you last. I had never been 'owned' so to speak, so it was the first time I had become a slave to anyone. No one had bought me before, something I had been eternally grateful for."

I frowned as a crease of frustration formed at the centre of his porcelain forehead, but I almost melted when his eyes caught with mine. Geez, my heart didn't beat but it sure felt like it did when he looked at me. I was tempted to put my hand on my chest just to make sure it wasn't thumping as loudly as it felt it was.

He was a slave. In his time, slaves were sold like pieces of meat and he got the raw end of the deal. Everything was simpler. You paid a certain amount of money, this poor kid was yours to do with as you please. No matter what. And slaves were rarely ever released.

"He was a vampire, though they weren't even heard of then. I had no idea," Godric chuckled bitterly, his eyes brimming with lost memories. He sighed. "Sometimes, it's hard to remember things. Though I do remember small details, like how there were always small, insignificant little cracks on the stone floor. I slept on the ground sometimes. It was cold."

"Oh Godric…" I murmured softly, still frowning. What could I say to comfort him? Was there even anything _to_ say to comfort him?

He laughed again, a little less bitter this time as he took my hand, comparing how pale it was to his own pale skin. "Do not be sorrowful for me, Emilie. It is not of your concern. Be happy that slavery does not exist in your society. It might in others, but not for you."

"Hallelujah," I sighed. He laughed again, his eyes looking truly joyful.

"Eric knows what it's like to lose something. And you, you do too."

"What have I lost?" I asked, curious and raising an eyebrow.

He looked at me as if it were plainly obvious. "You lost your entire human existence."

And when he said it like that, so serious and simple, I had to agree.

"Oh yeah, that…"

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It was crowded, even though it was dark outside. People stumbled and rushed past, all trying to get home early. We were in a large shopping mall, just aimlessly walking around. I had spent at least three hours in Godric's office, hearing all about his life.

I focused on Eric, who flitted through the crowds without much difficultly, well able to keep up with Godric though they were sure to keep it at a relatively human pace. I had noticed just how graceful vampires are, now that I am one. It was easier to move, but it was annoying that the humans were so God-damn _slow_. It was tiring, standing behind them and trying to move forward. I didn't want or feel like pushing past them right now.

There isn't a lot for vampires to do at night, surprisingly. After hundreds of years, your choices get narrowed down, or so Eric says. He vanished into the crowd, looming over everyone whereas I spotted Godric's grey jumper here and there. I stayed back a little, and stopped completely when a person tapped on my shoulder.

It was a woman, barely my height. She stank of sweat and something like alcohol, but I couldn't tell what brand. I usually could, depending on how much they drank. Having vampire senses had it's good sides. It was a real mixture of anything she could find, I guess. She had her face slightly hidden behind a dark black hoody, but when she did look up at me she had some horrible scars and lumpy wounds on her face, some badly covered up by make-up that was too dark or too light for her. All in all, she looked like a sad junkie, or something like that. She was physically shaking, pulling on her long blonde hair, green eyes wide and distant.

"You're one of them, ain't you?"

Her accent sounded like someone from Tennessee, but she didn't speak clearly. It was muffled and she covered her mouth with a shaky hand, and she slurred her words a little, too. Even with vampire hearing I struggled to make out what she was saying. She was on something, a drug, but she probably had some alcohol in her system too from the stench.

"A vampire, you mean?"

"Y-Yeah. Now I ain't lookin' for trouble or nothin'…." she stuttered, after a few moments of taking in my answer. It seemed she struggled to stay focused and hear what I was saying.**  
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"What are you looking for?" I asked, taking a small step back, but she quickly advanced and clutched at my dress, getting some dirt on it. I didn't really care about the dirt, but the smell of alcohol was way to over-whelming for a vampire's senses to withstand. Or at least, for me to withstand.

I crinkled my nose without realizing, but she didn't seem to care at all how strong the smell of drink was.

"I just need some V, please, I'll find you and pay you back I swear it!"

"What's V?" I asked plainly.

She stared at me as if I were stupid, and she snorted. "You must be new. That means fresher blood." Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Look, I can take you to mine and I have some vials, really it's safe."

I felt something burning and quickly shoved her away. Not enough to hurt her, because Godric had carefully warned me to focus on my strength. I could snap her neck accidentally in front of all these people, and imagine how hard it would be to stop myself from draining her then. I checked my hand, seeing a burn on my palm that was quickly healing itself.

The girl squeaked when Godric appeared, his eyes taking in her shabby and lost appearance. He took her arm in one quick, sharp motion which caused her to squeak again. Her eyes were wide in fear, but something told me this wasn't her first run in with an older vampire. She wasn't running, like she knew that Godric would always be able to find her.

Godric pulled up the black sleeve of her hoody, and revealed a silver bracelet that sparkled in the light. His expression didn't change, but his tone did, enough to make the girl physically shake again. "You had no intention of bringing her to your house 'safely', did you? You intended to burn her. I do not doubt that you have accomplices, for I have seen many of your kind before. I believe that you would use the other silver necklace around your neck to harm Emilie, knowing she is younger than I and that it would hurt her more than me."

The girl looked from Godric, back to me, and back to him again. "I-I…it wasn't _my_ idea…I wasn't going to hurt her, honest, sir…"

"Do not pester me any longer," Godric said sharply, shutting up her babbling instantly. I felt a little sorry for her. If I were in her position, I'd be peeing my pants from the look on Godric's face as he spotted a range of silver accessories on the girl that could easily harm a vampire. A thick belt, some chunky bracelets, and even an ankle bracelet that glinted in the light of the shops as she took a step away from Godric when he released her. She had been completely prepared to ambush a vampire. Like me, for example. "Leave, now. If I find you trying to harm another vampire, I will seek you out personally."

Godric isn't a violent person by nature. He was not born violent, I think. I think he just learned a lot about it in his life, far too much actually. He turned to me as the girl scuttled off, thankful for her life.

"Be more careful, Emilie. That was stupid. You are far too trusting. Could you not see the intent in her eyes?" he frowned darkly.

"What's V?"

Godric blinked, suddenly a little gentler and more tolerating. "She wanted V. It's your blood, Emilie. I should have explained sooner, but I didn't think someone would be so direct. That is not the first time a human has begged one our own for their blood. It gives humans a rather exciting…boost, I suppose. It heals them. And they become more…how to say it, sexual?"

I almost laughed at Godric's expression, concentrating as he tried to explain in his idea of modern terms. Eric strolled over, a corndog in his hand. When I glanced at it, he smiled.

"I wanted to look more human. The lady in the store almost dropped her handbag when she saw me picking up some TruBlood. She's obviously not used to vamps," he murmured, shrugging. "So I got this."

Godric smiled a little, but I didn't miss him rolling his eyes at Eric's amusing behavior. Eric had his good days and his bad, sometimes staying silent and other times being the life and soul depending on how much blood he'd consumed, and he absolutely hated having to drink TruBlood, but Godric refused to let any of his vampires harm a human for their blood.

On the way out to the car, I noticed that girl sitting alone by the benches, and she was crying. I frowned, wondering if I should go help her, guilt twisting at my gut, even if she had been after V.

Godric gently tugged on my arm. "Emilie, don't even think about contacting her in any way. Do you understand me?"

This bond that vampires have with their makers was one I was starting to understand. I would instantly feel compelled to do what he said. It was bloody annoying. But I got in the car anyway, and Eric smirked at me knowingly before he asked if I wanted the rest of his uneaten corndog.


	6. The Tricks of the Trade

**A/N: **_Oops. Took me a while to update, I know. But here you go! :) Happy 's Day btw! :)  
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**Chapter Five – The Tricks of the Trade  
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"_Your life is what your thoughts make it."_  
- **Marcus Aurelius**

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**Eric was in a mood. A, 'Look at me the wrong way and I'll eat you alive' sort of mood. We sat around the house, not actually doing anything. Godric had been reading for the past few hours, all war books. He was fascinated by how armies moved in sync, how they fought and how they were commanded as if they were one person, with one mind, yet they were still all individual people. Something like that.

There was a human in the house today. Rosie, a placid brown-haired girl with wide brown eyes. She was someone's human, meaning she was 'owned', but I'd no idea who owned her. And she tried desperately to cover up the fang marks on her neck with a pale, peachy-pink sort of coloured scarf around it. No point, really, she stank of blood. It was just the marks healing, as wounds normally do, but you could still get a whiff of blood in the air.

So we sat in the sitting room, rather awkwardly. I was sitting upside down, playing with some red silk. I'd found it on the couch, not caring who owned it. In the corner of the room, I spotted a book and felt too lazy to go get it.

Of course, the first thing that came to mind was to ask Rosie.

"Hey Rosie," I said, and her wide brown eyes glanced at me fearfully. Even though she was around vampires for 60% of her time, she was still terrified of us. The stench of fear and sweat told me that. She looked a little tired and dazed at me.

"Yes?" she said softly.

Eric's head snapped towards her, but since he'd been moody all day I took no notice of him. Or how he was watching the scene with wide, amused and curious eyes.

"Can you grab that book for me? The red one, with the black spine and golden writing on the front? Please?" I asked, seeing her move like a zombie as she went to grab it.

Another vampire, nicknamed 'Rip' by a few of the other vamps entered and took one look at Rosie's dazed expression before he lunged at me, picking me up by my collar in one smooth move. I felt a little dizzy, having been spun around in the air. 'Rip' had his nickname for an obvious reason. Eric stayed seat, a scowl on his face. Oh great, I'm in trouble and my 'brother' is far too moody to do anything about it.

"How dare you glamour her!"

"Glamour? Who, Rosie?" I asked, looking at her. She shook her head suddenly, dropping the book.

"Rip, drop her. She's practically a newborn, she had no idea what she was doing. Don't you remember the first time you glamoured someone?" Eric asked.

"Pssht, she should know Rosie is _mine_," he growled.

I should probably tell you a little bit about Rip that I have learned about him since I got here. His idea of mainstreaming used to be owning humans and then destroying them when he got bored by ripping their heads of and drinking the blood, hence his nickname. I think his real name is Robert or something, but I'm not sure.

He's not nearly as old as Eric or Godric, even though he acts like he is. He's been here since I was turned, but he normally moves from place to place, or so Eric told me. And Rosie turned up one day out of the blue, with a small suitcase and since Godric is trying to make this thing with vampires and humans work, he accepted her with open arms. And food. Lots and lots of human food.

Rip let me go, and I landed swiftly on my feet. Rosie left in a huddled, terrified scuttle as I stood in amazement. I had glamoured her, and hadn't even realized. I didn't feel any different when I did it, it was just that I stared into her eyes in a way that would've made normal humans uncomfortable. I didn't mean to glamour her. Surely Rip would realize that?

From the growl he let out as he stormed out, I guessed he didn't.

* * *

The next night was awkward. Rosie would let out a small squeak in fear if she made eye-contact with me and it made me feel horribly guilty.

"Emilie, for the last time, you didn't know you were doing it," Eric muttered, grumpily pulling a bottle of TruBlood from the microwave.

"Yes, but Rip won't even let me say sorry to Rosie."

"Forget Rip. He has a stupid nickname anyway. That's like you calling me Viking whenever you see me. It's stupid."

"Okay Grumpy, didn't mean to offend you," I muttered, his bad mood rubbing off on me. Lysus had been relatively co-operative with Godric today, worn out from all the pain and lack of blood. The smell of his burning skin had become normal now.

Godric called me to his office, just as Rip was leaving it. My already-dead blood seemed to chill just a little bit more as I caught the look he threw me. Uh-oh.

I flopped into the chair in front of Godric's desk, feeling like a bad student about to be scolded by the teacher. He sat, folding his hands on the desk and leaning his head on them.

A blonde woman was on the TV, talking about how vampires deserved to rot in hell for eternity. Ouch.

Humans are so willing to forget their bloody past, I've noticed. When I was human I never paid much attention to the news about vampires. I was surrounded by it of course, but I had managed to ignore it and focus on social things. Like which of my friends likes who, who's going to certain parties, etc.

Now I couldn't avoid it.

Godric had a book in front of him, with 'Ancient Rome' scribbled in golden Italics on the spine. He had been reading the section about Roman wars, but I eyed the word 'Slaves' and 'Gladiators' suspiciously. Godric liked to read about Rome, about how the world used to be when he was younger.

"You glamoured Rosie, Emilie? Or is Rip lying?" he asked.

Rip's nickname sounded weird when Godric said it, with his slight accent dragging it out. 'Rip' sounded so stupid and immature when he said it. I almost blushed.

"Ah yes, I did, actually," I replied nervously, a little worried he'd be mad. "But I didn't mean to," I added quickly. "It was an accident."

Godric seemed to take ages before he responded. "Very well. I believe you are telling the truth Emilie. You are a newborn. You didn't know any better."

"That's it? You aren't going to get mad at me?"

"Emilie, if I were to get mad at you, I would be no better than a parent scolding a child for asking questions. They are curious, unaware of what they can do with themselves at such a young age, and so are you," he replied simply.

Images of the famous film 'Dracula' appeared on TV, before gruesome images of some dead girl came up, apparently killed by a vampire. Two women, both blonde, were arguing about it.

"It is obvious that vampires cannot live in our society. God does not want them here. God hates fangs."

"Who are you to say what God does and does not want? Does God speak to you?" the other blonde challenged, raising an eyebrow and shifting in her seat.

The chat-show host was quick to break up any sort of rival cat-fight that could happen, but I bet she was just happy her show was getting more views than it normally did. Who cares if half the audience were technically dead?

"I need you to be more careful Emilie," Godric sighed as he looked at me.

"Careful?"

"Yes," he said. "It worries me that someone could take advantage of how naïve and curious you are. You just don't see it or realize it yourself. That…girl, the V addict in the shopping mall. You let her get close to you without alerting Eric or I to her presence. Had she tried hard enough, she could easily have burned you with silver and taken your blood. That can happen to any vampire, no matter how old or how young."

"She was out of her mind, Godric. Maybe if we help her, she could-…"

"No!" he said suddenly, using a tone I'd never heard from Godric before. It was a little…stressed, violent, as if he were desperate. He didn't look like it though – he looked like perfection. "You don't know these people Emilie. We can't take in someone addicted to V. That's suicide. We're vampires. It would never work out."

I understood that. But I still felt bad for the girl, having to go through all that. She had been so desperate.

"I didn't even want to become a vampire, Godric," I murmured, and his eyes seemed to glaze over a little. "But I'm sort of glad I did."

He smiled sadly. "It is not an easy life, or one I would've chosen for you. But sometimes, life is unfair. We don't get what we want."


	7. Enlightenment

**A/N: **_Ah. It took me quite a while to update. Sorry. But here you go! ^_^_

* * *

**Chapter Six – Enlightenment **

* * *

"_But I like not these great success of yours; for I know how jealous are the gods."_  
**- ****Herodotus**

* * *

It was silent, with only some rain pattering against the window. The TV was the only source of light in the room, and of course, another vampire chat-show was on. This time, it was religions they spoke of. We are demons, vampires, monsters. Or, that's what the pretty lady with hair that was surely a wig said.

"They are wrong. They should not exist, simple as."

My eyes narrowed. I should not exist, really? This woman truly believed in God, and seemed to think He chose her to speak for Him. I rolled my eyes before laying back in the seat, eyes still narrowed at her flickering face. I believe in God, but this woman had some problems. The camera switched, and once again, there was Dracula. This was really getting annoying. Dracula seemed to be in every bloody show these days.

I sighed slowly, blowing a piece of hair from my face.

"The Angels protect us, but how can they do that if these…these _demons_ are getting in the way?" the 'blonde' wig lady exclaimed, throwing her perfectly manicured hands up as if to emphasize our dastardly deeds.

"Who is to say we're the demons? Humans are very quick to forget all the bloody history they have," one 'demon' sighed, rolling _his _eyes too. This was getting interesting as the human went red and looked away from the vampire, quoting God again as if that solved all her problems.

I yawned a little, standing. I pulled on my long pajamas pants, fixing them, before walking towards the kitchen. As I passed the hall, I heard a whimper. An actual _whimper._

I listened hard, figuring out it was coming from the room where they still held Lysus. Cautiously I entered, _so cautiously_, remembering how Godric had warned me to be careful.

"Lysus?" I said quietly as I went down the stairs. The sound of chains rubbing together was as quiet as I was, as I almost glided down the stairs. Vampire speed is awesome, but fear…not so much. Another part of me wanted to turn back. But he was far too weak to do anything, and even Godric had said that. Even if this was swirling in my mind, I felt a little sick when I saw him.

His cheek was missing a little…skin, to put it nicely. You could see bone, and his eyes were sunken far back into his head. I fell back against the stairs when I saw how bad he looked. Like _real_ Death. His dark eyes seemed to struggle with meeting mine, and his hair was stuck flat to his head, his skin slightly cracked. They'd obviously given him enough TruBlood to live, and Eric said Lysus was slowly breaking down. Just on the verge of giving away his comrades location.

"Kid…" he hissed gently. Not as violent as he used to be, clearly. "You're still…alive…"

"So are you," I noted drily.

"Barely," he chuckled darkly. "Your…creator has something…to do with that, right?"

It hurt me to think of Godric harming him. He's not violent, and I couldn't imagine him in any other way.

"I…Godric, he's really not-…"

"Violent…yeah, yeah, seems he's brainwashed you…too, _Emilie_," Lysus spat. "He thinks humans and vampires can get on."

I got to my knees to kneel in front of him, chains holding his arms back, his chest heaving as some dry blood ran down his mouth and down his chin onto his neck. He had probably cried from the pain, because some bloody tear stains were under his eyes. He still scared me, so much so that I nervously twisted the end of the sleeves on my top. It wasn't mine, though, it was Godric's. It still hung a little loosely, and I was looking forward to this 'shopping trip' Isabella wanted to take me on.

Our last trip to a shopping mall hadn't gone so well, with the V addict and all. Lysus' eyes glanced at my nervous movements and he smiled, an almost human-like smile that made the nerves lift for a moment. Lysus almost looked human when he smiled. Almost, if it wasn't for the fact you could see the bone shining through on his cheek from a wound which looked like a burn.

"You are afraid of me. I know this, and Godric knows it. He is very, very afraid for you. He thinks you are naïve or curious or something strange like that," he chuckled.

I frowned, but he didn't wait for me to respond.

"I created a vampire child once. Made me nervous, I guess. I always lie when someone asks if I've ever changed someone."

"Why lie?"

He shrugged, his muscles tensing and the chains groaning. A fresh scent of burning flesh filled the air. He groaned a little, before he sighed.

"I…He died. The kid, I mean. The one I turned. I let him go…with them, with _William_, and they didn't look after him and…"

Guilt tore at his eyes. It was hard to break away from his gaze, but he wasn't even looking at me properly. Like he couldn't see me. He was seeing something else entirely. Then the phone rang, and he jumped back to the present.

"You should go answer it." Quick. Straight to the point. If he was going to cry like I suspect he was, he didn't want me here.

"Y-Yeah," I said, knowing I was the only one in the house who was awake right now. I ran up the stairs, making it to the phone in less than three seconds even if it was on the other side of the house. Godric would be asleep, or in his office reading like always. He absorbed as much information as he possibly could in hours. This phone was just outside the large living room door, on a pale wooden table.

"Hello?"

"Oh, yeah, hey. Guess who this is?" a voice laughed on the other side. I frowned.

"Who is this?"

"Jeez. You sound like fun, you wouldn't even guess," they said sarcastically. "You should know me. After all, I turned you." Some voices laughed in the background like it was the funniest thing they had ever heard. My tummy tightened so hard, in such a short time that I gripped it and leaned against the wall.

"Wi-William?"

"Yeeeees? I _knew_ you knew me."

"You turned me!" I gasped, horrified at how calm and carefree he sounded.

"So I'm not on the Christmas card list, no?"

I felt nauseous and shocked. He was acting as if we were the best of friends, having a little argument that meant nothing and we would forget all about it.

"Yo', Emilie? That's how people speak these days isn't it? I was watching this reality show, and that's how they greeted each other. Do you say that, Emilie? 'Yo''? Does _Godric_?"

"Shut up," I growled.

"Feisty? I remember you were beautiful, but not feisty. Unless I have the wrong number. How awkward would that be!" he laughed loudly. More laughter from whoever was in the background, but they sounded nervous. Like they didn't know if he was as stable as he was making himself out to be. "Imagine. 'Sorry ma'am, wrong number, just looking for the kid that I turned into a monster. My apologies. Have a nice evening!'"

"Emilie?"

I jumped at the sound of a new voice, thinking William had given the phone to one of his friends, but this was Godric. He had no shoes on, in pajamas, looking at me with concerned eyes.

I pointed at the phone and he frowned. Godric wasn't always a fan of technology at the best of times. Slowly he reached out for it, taking it like it was a weapon before putting it to his ear cautiously. When he heard William, still babbling on about calling the wrong number, his eyes went dark.

"William," he said slowly, as if talking to a bold child. "Yes, this is Godric."

He paused. "I am not so happy to hear from you, William. You've caused a lot of trouble lately. An accident? How could this possibly be an accident?" he spat venomously. "You 'accidentally' ruined Emilie's life? You 'accidentally' put her in severe danger? I do not believe that, William."

I could hear the laughter once again on the other side of the phone.

I took it back from Godric, but he didn't look happy about it.

"So yeah, Godric, we'll be seeing you real soon. You still have Lysus, yeah?" he asked.

Bitterly, I answered for Godric. "Yes, William, we do."

"Oh hey guys, Emilie's back! Yeah, I was worried in case we like…left him in a bar again. Funny story, I should tell you it sometime."

"Sometime?"

"We'll be seeing you real, real soon Emilie. Unfinished business, that's how you say it now? See you soon Beautiful!"

And he hung up. Just as if we were best friends, going out for lunch. He sounded so carefree, like he hadn't done anything wrong in his life and was an Angel.

'See you soon Beautiful'. I didn't doubt him, and from the look on Godric's face, he didn't either.


	8. A Trip

**A/N: **_Late update, I know, I know ^^; Don't hate me. Here you go! _

* * *

**Chapter Seven – A Trip**

* * *

"_Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools."__  
_**- ****Albert Einstein**

* * *

Her legs twitched, blood pouring down her neck. She looked…frightened and lost, but aware of what was happening to her. The predator called for his friends to join, and just like that, the deer had given up hope. The camera zoomed in on the deer's wide brown eyes, as some man with a monotone voice described how this was the cycle of life. The cheetahs closed in on the poor female deer.

The screen was blocked by Isabella, who was frowning at me.

"How do you expect to comfort me like this?"

"Comfort you?" I asked her. "Why? What's wrong with you?"

"I've been waiting for centuries for a female vampire like you to join our nest. I finally get you, and you spend the night lounging around and enjoying yourself. God, you're as bad as Eric."

"Shut up, I am nothing like him."

"You are, in more ways than you think," another voice said.

Isabella almost bowed at Godric, who simply dismissed her. He looked at me with a frown. I sighed, leaning my head back on the plushy sofa. He sat beside me at vampire speed, staying silent. There was some classical music playing distantly in another room, but the woman wasn't singing in English. It was soothing.

Godric picked up my hand and made me look at him, putting something into my hand. It was a phone.

"Just…click 2, and then press call. If you're in trouble, that is. It took me a long time to figure out the manual. This device has far too many buttons," he said, looking at the phone like it was a bomb. I giggled a little at his frustrated expression and he looked up at me in surprise, smiling himself. "What is so funny, Emilie?"

"You and technology. I've seen you trying to send an e-mail to Eric. It's tragic," I laughed.

He frowned jokingly. "I am not that bad. They just make it difficult. You must teach me how to use one."

"I'll try but honestly I don't think there's any hope."

We laughed for a moment, and I looked at the phone. It was an expensive-looking touch screen that probably cost him an arm and a leg. But then again, Godric was not lacking in money according to Isabella. I really wouldn't have guessed from all the vampire meetings, fancy cars, modern décor…

"You promise to call if there's a problem?"

"I promise Godric. Don't worry, I have Isabella with me anyway."

"I don't think that a vampire – even one as strong as Isabella – could handle a man like William. He doesn't have boundaries according to Lysus. He was changed during a war period apparently, and likes to remind humans of how badly they hurt him as a boy. How much they scarred him permanently. Also, Eric is number 3 on the speed-dial function. That was an impossible thing to work out."

"Why would I call Eric?"

Godric seemed to consider it for a moment. "I suppose he could help in some way. He will help you without hesitation."

"Right, because he's my hero," I muttered sarcastically.

"Eric will help you because you are family, part of this nest, Emilie," Godric said firmly, playing with some of my hair and laughing at me. "You don't seem very concerned with William's threat."

"Oh I am," I murmured, playing with the phone. "I just want to forget about him for a while."

* * *

"Leather handbag, leather dress, leather boots. Perfect," Isabella smiled. I eyed the outfit up and down, but she went off to pay for the stuff. Three hours of shopping had led to me carrying a bunch of bags. Had I been human, I'd be crippled with the pain of carrying so many bags filled with pretty dresses and shoes…and some filled with Isabella's clothes…but this was a perk of being a vampire, I guess.

The smell of human's sweat and perfumes and colognes, or blood, was intoxicating, sometimes overwhelming. I recognized one scent, as the girl who had been asking me for V. Picking out the scent and separating it from the crowd was easy. She looked cleaned up a little, and the moment she saw me she spun on her heels and went in the opposite direction. I dropped the bags, telling Isabella I was going to go check out the cake stand a few feet away from us – and she believed me, even if I only really drank TruBlood these days.

I made a beeline for the girl, and when I finally caught her, she flinched away from me and whimpered. That hurt, a _lot_. I've never had a human ever flinch away from me, and when she looked at me her eyes were filled with fear and intimidation.

"Y-You just tell that friend-a yours I didn't do nuffin', alright?" she whimpered.

I loosened my grip. The scars that had been on her face were healing, that much was obvious. Her blonde hair was scraped back, showing her true tanned skin. She looked healthier than I remembered her being. She wore a tight black suit with a pencil skirt, looking smart and proper.

"I was just gonna ask how you are," I shrugged, taking a step back.

Her eyes softened, but she didn't put her guard down. Vampires had gone against her too many times for her to do that, I guessed. I put my hands in my pocket, trying to look like I wouldn't hurt her. I didn't plan on it either.

"I'm…fine. I'm trying to come off the V, actually. I found a group who said they'll help me the day after I met you and your…friend. But…I can't be seen near you."

"What? What kinda group are these guys?"

"T-The Fellowship of the Sun."

"An Anti-vampire group? But…I haven't hurt you," I said lamely, sounding a little to whiny and hurt for my liking.

"I know _you_ haven't but others have. Vampires are bad, and you can repent by sacrificing yourself to the Fellowship," she said as if talking about the nice weather we'd been having in Dallas. Though vampires wouldn't know a lot about that anyway, since we can't go out in the daylight much. "What's to stop you? If I was to hurt myself, prick myself or cut myself, you wouldn't be able to stop yourself biting me and drainin' me for all I'm worth, vampire! You're just a blood-sucking demon now. A monster. It ain't even worth talking to you. I can feel the evil coming from you. You shouldn't even be alive. It's against God, the Fellowship said so."

I could hear Isabella calling for me in the distance, and I could hear the worry in her voice. But I could also hear this woman's heartbeat, pounding so violently in my head I felt a little dizzy and took another step away from her as if she had spat on me. She was trying to look like she wasn't afraid, but her heartbeat was another story. "Y-You…you think I'd drain you?"

"I know you would," she replied, not missing a beat. She handed me a pamphlet with a symbol for the Fellowship on it. With a grim smile, she shook my hand and I felt a familiar burning sensation on my hand. She was wearing more silver bracelets, and they shined in the light and burned my skin. My eyes never left hers, and I still watched her as she vanished into the crowd.

"Emilie, there you are! I was just about to call Godric, though he'd probably call in the Vampire SWAT team. Are you alright?"

Isabella had found me. Covering the burn mark – which was quickly healing anyway – I nodded and smiled at her.

"I'm perfect, thanks."

* * *

When I entered the house, Godric appeared instantly. Taking my arm roughly, he pushed me towards his office at vampire speed, his eyes blazing.

"Godric?" I blurted. "What's wrong with you?"

"You were hurt," he replied.

"You…felt it?"

"Of course I _felt_ it, I feel the pain that you do. Who harmed you?"

"She didn't mean to do it, I just shook hands with her and the bracelet-…"

"Was it the V addict?" he said instantly.

"You guessed correctly," I sighed as he made me sit in that chair in front of his desk. He kneeled in front of me, putting his hands firmly on my shoulder and staring right into my eyes.

"Don't you understand that you can't do that? That girl is too far gone to-…"

"No, Godric," I interrupted, hating myself for letting a bloody tear run down my cheek, "…She joined the Fellowship of the Sun. She said I was a blood-sucking demon. That I was bad, you know?"

Godric stayed silent, searching my eyes for a second. "You are not a 'blood-sucking demon', Emilie. How can you say that?"

"Well maybe it's true. Maybe I am a monster like she said I was."

Godric let out a hollow laugh, and I looked up at him in surprise.

"I know monsters, Emilie. I've become one before. You are the farthest thing from a monster, and the Fellowship are fools. They preach about how God is trying to save them from us. We, the vampires, have no reason to harm humans. William and his group, they need to be taken care of because they cause humans to be brainwashed so easily," he hissed.

"Thank you Godric."

Before I knew what was happening, I had pecked him on the lips.


	9. Taken

**A/N: **_I have taken a bloody century to update, haven't I? I am so sorry! Please forgive me, but here you go ;D_

* * *

**Chapter Eight – Taken**

* * *

"_A fool flatters himself, a wise man flatters the fool.__"  
_- **Robert Bulwer-Lytton**

* * *

At first, I avoided Godric like the plague. I was so embarrassed that my emotions had gotten the best of me, and it was only when I stood alone in my own room that I realized my fangs had come out. He must think I'm insane. Insane. He's my _maker_. I am such a…a human. Darn. Still have some humanity left in me. Eric claims vampires lose it after a while, though I hope he was just trying to annoy me when he said it. We couldn't lose our humanity, could we? Not when we were originally human?

The night passed quickly, and then it was time to sleep. Isabel wished me a good night's sleep, but I didn't get any. I just lay there. At some point, when I finally did sleep, someone woke me up. I crumpled the bed sheets in my hands, yawning.

"Five more minutes Isabel, even vampires need their beauty sleep."

I had said Isabel, since it was usually her who woke me up. Surprisingly, she left me alone and went back outside quietly, not saying a word. I fell back asleep, waking up a while later to see Isabel in front of me, twisting her hands nervously.

"Emilie?"

"I told you to wake me in five minutes."

"What? Em, I've only gotten up now."

I sat up a little, rubbing my tired eyes wearily. "Okay, so maybe Godric or Stan tried to wake me."

"It must be Godric. Stan is still asleep, and he went to bed before I did," she frowned.

"So what's the big deal?" I murmured, stretching. "Why are you so nervous?"

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, still tired. I would love a TruBlood right now. Perhaps I'll ask Godric to bring one to Lysus. If I could face Godric today, after what I did. It was small, lasting about ten seconds, but he_ responded_. That was a good sign, wasn't it? Even if I was a total idiot. I stood up and walked to the dresser, grabbing a brush and running it through my mangled hair.

"Well…it's just…Godric's not here!" she blurted. I froze.

"Gone?"

Godric had gone out before, obviously. It was rare, but he had to. It was for small things. Meetings with other vampires, sorting out things. Sometimes he'd have to deal with 'bad' vamps who refused to play by the rules. Other than that, he didn't usually bother to go out. He just read books, or chatted. Normal things.

"Yes," Isabel babbled. "I-I went to ask him if he would like me to stock up on TruBlood, since we were running low, and he was not there. He would've left a note, but there is nothing! What do we do?"

"…Go wake Stan, get everyone together," I suggested, though I was clueless myself.

Without Godric, what would we do? In such a short time, he had become the person who guided me in life. He was the one who sat me down and helped me to decide which TruBlood I liked more, he helped me control the urge to drain blood, even offering to teach me proper Swedish…he did everything. Now he was no where to be found.

But be logical, Emilie. Perhaps there was an emergency, and he didn't have _time_ to leave a note. Perhaps we're all over-reacting.

Isabel ran off, and I went to his office. His scent was still fresh. I could hear her waking Stan, who grumbled angrily. Not a smart idea to wake a giant vampire, I guess. But I picked up Godric's telephone, ignoring everything else. Eric's number was scrawled in one of the address books, in Godric's neat handwriting. I even smiled thinking about how bad he was with technology sometimes. My nerves were getting the best of me.

"Hello Godric," Eric said when he answered.

I took a deep breath. "Eric, it's Emilie."

His tone changed. He sounded concerned…possibly angry. "Emilie? What are you doing on Godric's phone?"

I think there was some sort of hesitation in Eric's voice. Like he already knew something was terribly wrong, but needed me to confirm it. "Godric is gone."

"He is not with me," Eric hissed. "When did he leave?"

"We're not sure of all details. We needed to know if he left on an emergency or if he's really…is it possible to kidnap a vampire as old as Godric, Eric?"

Eric's voice was breathless. He couldn't even grasp it himself. "No…Has he acted strange? Said anything?"

I held my tongue for a moment, as Eric was cursing in what I believe is Swedish.

"No," I whispered. Eric slammed a wall, or something hard, because I suddenly heard some shrill screaming in the background. Something smashed, and the screaming got louder. I winced. For a human, that was loud, so can you imagine a vampire's hearing.

"Ginger, would you shut the fuck up!" Eric screamed. I had never heard Eric scream before. Not even a yell. He was always in control. But I knew how he felt. It was like missing a part of you when you didn't know where your maker was. It was hallow, and it hurt.

Whoever Ginger was, her screaming turned into soft whimpers of fear.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"Control the vampires in your Nest. I will figure out what to do on my end. Get Isabel to call me as soon as you can. We'll figure this out Emilie," he growled. "Godric could not be taken. It's just…impossible. A vampire at his age…It can't happen. Emilie, stay close to the Nest. You are the youngest, you have a disadvantage."

"Right, right," I said, though I was too busy flipping through papers and files on his desk, trying to see what had happened to him. And then it fell out, a pamphlet with a symbol and the word '_Fellowship_' written underneath it.

A picture of two kids playing in a sandbox was on the front. Two parents – with the dad wearing a fashionably nice sweater tied around his shoulders, arm dangling around the mother's shoulders – smiled at them adoringly. And then, a sentence in the same blood red colouring asked, "Would you like your kids to be a snack for those vampires?"

Inside however, they preached a different story. I could see why people fell for it. They warned humans about us, the vampires, how evil we were.

"Eric…I-I got to go," I said quickly before he could protest. At the very back, there was an address and a phone number. The address was circled, making me believe Godric had been reading this. Some pages were folded over, some torn. When I had hung up on Eric, I called that number when a peppy woman answered.

"Why hello there, and let the Lord bless your happy soul!" she chirped. Oh God, kill me now. "How may I help you on this absolutely glorious day?"

I cleared my throat. This woman sounded demented. "Hi, I was wondering, can anyone just join the Fellowship? I'd love to see what it's like."

I kept my voice low, hoping against hope that Isabel and Stan wouldn't walk past at that moment. The woman let out a cheerful gasp, and I winced inwardly. Please, please say these insane people don't have Godric. Please let him walk through that door and say he was just out getting some to drink. No such luck.

After a few more minutes of her overly-happy voice blasting down the phone, I had gotten everything I needed to know. Eric called back, but I didn't answer the phone. Instead, I ripped up the pamphlet.

All I have to do is get past the other vampires. Easy peasy, vampire squeezy. Right? This was for Godric.


	10. Hjärta

**Chapter Nine – ****Hjärta**

* * *

"_All credibility, all good conscience, all evidence of truth come only from the senses.__"  
_**-****Friedrich Nietzsche**

* * *

When someone gives up on life, it can become incredibly difficult to do the simplest things. Waking up and getting out of bed becomes a chore. Everything is boring and pointless. Why bother if everything you do fades away after a while? All of this was a mix of thoughts and feelings I was getting from Godric. It's horrible to know that somewhere beyond all these horrible images, he had some hope in the pit of his stomach. A bond between a Maker and a Child is very hard to break. Sometimes these 'images' were so strong, I could see pictures in my mind of what he was thinking. The closer I got to the Fellowship, the more I felt it.

I could see Eric, myself, Isabel. Everyone. Sometimes I saw people I didn't know. It was depressing, sitting in that taxi and feeling pain Godric was in. The taxi driver in the front seat looked nervous. Perhaps he'd never driven a vampire around before. His pulse was quickening every time I sat up in my seat or looked at him.

What's so special about being alive, anyway? You die eventually. We, on the other hand, are much harder to kill. I huffed silently, and the taxi driver's eyes nervously looked into the mirror above him to check on me. As if my fangs were out and I was annoyed because of the traffic – there wasn't even that many people out tonight.

"Ah, ma'am? W-We're here, like you asked."

I handed him the dollars and hopped out, slamming the door behind me. That taxi driver couldn't get away fast enough. I headed to the front door. A man with dark blond hair and some dark blue jeans stood there with a blonde woman. She was from the TV, I noted. It was quite late, but still they stood chatting. She gripped his shoulders. I raised an eyebrow and headed towards them silently.

He finally noticed me. "Howdy. I'm Jason Stackhouse!"

"Uh. Hi. I'm Emilie," I said, not giving away my last name just yet."

The blonde woman actually seemed to know me, because she took my elbow and quickly pulled me over towards the car park. I didn't mind. She was human – as cruel as it was to say it, if she did try anything I could easily take her out. I'm certainly not as old as Godric or even Eric, but I wasn't weak either. She smiled as politely as she could at me. But I knew she was disgusted by the mere sight of a vampire.

"Hey, where are ya goin' Sarah!" Jason hollered. His voice was extra loud, even for a vampire's hearing. I winced a little.

"Just…girl talk!" she laughed. A little too nervous and distressed.

He looked unsure but nodded and left anyway. Jogging off, as I stood in the dark with Sarah Newlin. I knew her from the TV. I had watched her when I was bored in Godric's home. I had seen her as Stan wrestled with other vampires and I had to yell at him to get out of my way. But I hadn't properly _seen_ her until now.

Her perfect blonde hair, hair-sprayed so much it barely moved in the light breeze. Her make-up was spectacular, not a bit out of place as she smiled away at me. I felt her fear though. She must know who I am, Godric must have said something. She was a little too…psychotic for my liking.

"Godric is here," I stated. She couldn't deny it, I could feel the bond. It was stronger here than anywhere else. Eric would murder me for going through with this, but if I could just help Godric. Could these people have kidnapped him, really? If they could steal a 2000 year old vampire, my Maker, what chance did I have?

She tittered. That is the only way to describe her nervous laugh.

"Let me introduce myself properly," she smiled. "I'm-…"

"Sarah Newlin, I know. I've seen you on TV, talking about how we vampires are a plague on humanity, how God feels we are an abomination and how we should burn in Hell for all eternity due to the torture and pain we bring on mankind," I said, using that fake voice she used. Her smile dropped as she tried to regain her composure. "Am I correct?"

"You came to see Godric." Ah, changing the subject. Smart move Newlin. How shall I ever recover. I grinned at her and nodded in the direction of the church.

"I assume he's in there."

I burst into long strides towards the church, quickly hearing the tap of her little high-heels as she struggled to keep up with me. She was finding it difficult. I must admit, I put a little vampire speed into it, but not enough that she couldn't run after me.

"Wait!" she exclaimed.

"Oh sorry Sarah, you'll have to speak up I can't hear you," I muttered absentmindedly. The doors didn't open. I waited for her to catch up, and when she did she was busy fixing her hair.

"Let me in," I muttered plainly.

"No."

I sighed and defiantly searched her in seconds. The key was in held on a necklace, hidden beneath her bright pink blouse, how original. Once I had found it, she was about to scream as I clamped a hand over her mouth. She squeaked with fear, just waiting for me to snap her neck.

"Thank you."

She mumbled from beneath my hand. I smiled and when we entered, the halls were empty. Sarah looked quite annoyed by this, but I didn't stand around to survey it for long. I practically ran, dragging her alongside me, sniffing the air. Ugh, Sarah was wearing far too much perfume. It was too sweet.

"Are you going to give me directions to Godric?" I asked. I was trying to be a lot tougher than I was. In my head, I imagined I was Eric. I was his height, I had the threatening authority, I was scary. I imagined how I felt when I first met him. The small, nagging fear simply because of his confidence. "Or do I have to make you tell me?"

Oh, my threats are so lame. But Sarah squeaked in fear again, so mission accomplished. With a shaking finger, she pointed at a door across from the altar. We headed towards it, with Sarah awkwardly bent and trying to keep up as I dragged her along.

Thankfully this door was unlocked, so I could forget about threatening people in my best Eric impersonation. I was horrible at it anyway. His ego was what made people fear him. And the whole growling vampire thing.

I let Sarah go for one moment, looking down the stairs to the bottom.

"Sarah, I-…" I began.

As I turned, a bright silver light flashed in front of me as I was hit right in the back of the head. Since I was a vampire, this really shouldn't hurt, but the pain burned because of the silver. I tumbled down the stairs, smacking against the edge of each stair, hissing a little. Ouch. I rolled to the bottom, staring up at Sarah and this new, angry man beside her.

"Damn vamps. They just don't give up, do they? Not until the Devil himself drags 'em back down where they belong."


	11. Pain

**A/N: **_I can't honestly decide if I want to continue this story :D Who knows…Enjoy!_

_P.S, I forgot to mention that the title of the last chapter means 'Heart' in Swedish :)_

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**Chapter Ten – Pain**

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"_A kiss makes the heart young again and wipes out the years.__"_  
**- ****Rupert Brooke**

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I heard him before I saw him. The silver burned so much that I was screaming in pain at first. Godric must've felt it. I could hear him as they dragged me to a surprisingly comfortable room. It had a wardrobe, dresser, mirrors and a little pull out bed in the corner of the room. There were no windows, thankfully, because I think it was dawn. Without realizing it, I had bloody tears running down my face. Finally, the man who had pushed me down the stairs took off the silver. He hesitated though, as if waiting for me to attack him.

I couldn't even move. For one, I could see Godric kneeling in front of me. My eyes locked with his. Secondly, I didn't care about anything else in this world but him right now. He looked sad, slowly wiping away some of the bloody tears from my cheeks. He inspected the blood before sighing and looking at me.

"Why do you weep for me?"

The question took me by surprise. Why _wouldn't_ I? That was that real question. He dismissed the brute behind me with a wave of his hand, but before the guy reached the door, he said something that made the man squirm.

"And Gabe…if you harm my child again, I will kill you. Have a pleasant day."

"Y-Yes Godric."

Godric turned his attention back to me. I was suddenly angry at him. How could he even think of leaving me and Eric! I still had William to deal with. I was a newborn vampire, I still had no idea how things worked. My tears were angry, furious tears now, and Godric watched with sad eyes as I stood up and crossed my arms.

"You are angry," he stated.

"Of course I'm angry. What were you thinking, Godric?"

"I was thinking that I am tired!" he snapped. That stopped me in my tracks. Godric had never snapped at me before, and he certainly never looked his…exhausted. Fed up, worn out…I don't even know how to describe the look in his eyes as he turned away and tugged at his hair gently, sighing.

"…Tired?" I repeated. "Of what, Godric?"

"Everything," he said, sounding so ashamed of himself. "I have watched countless humans murder each other for nothing more than land and hatred. I have killed _thousands_ Emilie, for revenge. But that doesn't even make any sense to me anymore. They weren't the ones to hurt me. I killed my maker. Why, then, did I become such a…monster?"

He let out a hollow laugh. I winced slightly, feeling that connection between a Maker and their Child pulsating through me again. His pain was magnified by the fact that he was right in front of me. It tore at me, and I felt nothing but guilt.

"Godric," I sobbed, hating my voice for sounding so weak and hoarse. But he had to know how much we needed him. As selfish as it sounds, I needed him to live so I could have him each and everyday, by my side. "You are _not_ a monster."

"Killing women and children is hardly a virtue," he whispered, staring at the ground.

"I need you Godric. I love you, Eric loves you, Isabel and Stan – how do we live without you?"

He smiled at me, and I promise you it was the saddest smile I had ever seen. "I do not deserve a child like you, Emilie. I never did. You are too good. You see the good in people. Eric will take care of you."

"Out of duty," I muttered, leaning against the wall across the room and wiping some of my tears. Damn, blood was so hard to wipe off. My hands were shaking.

"Actually, it's out of love. Eric is highly protective of his family. He will teach you everything I can't. Like I have said Emilie…I do not deserve you."

I made a crazy, split second decision the moment he said that. If he wanted to die, fine – but I would die with him. Sure, I had been a vampire for a short while, and I loved my life the way it was. I liked getting up when the sun went down. I liked drinking TruBlood – even if it tasted horrible – with Godric, chatting about everything and anything. I even liked fighting with Eric.

"I will die with you."

Godric looked at me, his eyes narrowed. "No. You stay with Eric. Do not make me command it, Emilie. I promised myself I would never be so cruel."

"You are being cruel right now! You can't command me Godric. I'll do it, no matter what. Whether it's with you, right beside you, or whether I have to wait until our ties are broken, I will do it. I don't care if I die-…"

He kissed me. In one second, he had crossed the room, holding my wrists to stop me moving. I could see the strength Godric had. He was 2000 years old, and I think I'm in love with him. When he finally pulled away, his eyes didn't look as sad anymore.

"Don't be crazy Emilie," he said. "I refuse to let you die."

My fangs popped out, and I groaned. "That is _so_ annoying."

"You are young," he sighed. "It happens to all vampires. Even when I was younger, it happened to me. Now listen to me, Em, if I have to command you to keep living, I will. If I have to command Eric, then I will."

"Try me Godric. I'm not letting you do this."


	12. Har du Soul?

**A/N: **_Late update. No internet. Excuses, writer's block, all that. But here it is! Yay Godric! Enjoy!_

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*****WARNING*** : **_I know the Fellowship's real story, but this is totally different! William will be involved, and we all know how he is. So it's actually going to be so different. You have been warned :)_

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**Chapter Eleven**** – Har du Soul?**

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"_A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and there comes a time when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist.__"_  
**- ****Stewart Alsop**

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Sarah Newlin spoke to me as if I was a helpless child. She came down here, her high heels tapping on the polished floors. She walked with an annoying hop in her step, sticking her blonde head around the door before she entered. Godric stood with respect to greet her; I did not. I glared at her and leaned back in my seat. Of course, as my Maker, he could feel my feelings of disgust, and he didn't like them. He turned and looked down at me.

"Emilie," he said in a warning tone. "Stand up for Sarah."

I did it automatically. Stupid Makers, being able to command their Children. Sarah outstretched her slightly tanned hand. I wasn't actually sure anymore with humans. Were they tanned, or was I just deathly pale? Eric had once said he and Pam asked for I.D in Fangtasia because they found it hard to tell human ages. Would that happen to me? Would I become so old I would forget what it was like to be human?

Her make-up was done to perfection. Blonde hair, bouncy and shiny, with a respectable grey pencil skirt that looked painfully tight, a deep pink skirt and some black high heels. Dressed for business with vampires, it seemed. When I took her hand, I could feel her pulse. It was picking up. She was afraid of me.

Good – I hated her. She was one of the reasons Godric was here in the first place. I ignored the fact that he was here out of choice. I just viewed Sarah as the enemy. She was beaming at us. As I held her hand for a moment, I wanted to snap it into tiny pieces. How amazing would it be to hear her scream?

Oh God. I'm such a horrible…_thing_. How can I say that?

Instead of thinking bad thoughts, I smiled and straightened up.

"Hi there! How are we all feelin' today?"

"Just dandy, after your friend hit me and threw me down some stairs," I growled flatly.

Okay. So maybe I wasn't very good at pretending to like people.

Godric's apprehensive eyes shifted from me to Sarah. He was waiting for her response. She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she decided what to do, before she just looked at Godric.

"I came to offer you some TruBlood, Godric. You must be hungry before your…._big night_," she grinned excitedly.

Immediately Godric put his hand on my back, keeping a straight face in front of Sarah. Secretly, he was holding me back. Darn, he was way too strong. I pursed my lips and hoped I looked 'pleasant'.

"Anything you have will be fine, thank you Sarah. If you could bring Emilie an A Positive, that would help."

I'd much rather drain Sarah. But Godric would never forgive me for being so vicious and angry, for letting my pent up anger hurt Sarah instead of the person I was actually angry at. The weirdest thing was, I wasn't always angry at Godric. I was frustrated with myself a lot more. My anger had slowly seeped away, replaced with sadness. Now I was just frustrated that I could do nothing to convince him otherwise.

"Sure thing! Coming right up!" Sarah grinned happily.

Gag. She skipped off, pretending life was amazing and wonderful and nothing bad could happen, not with her Steve around. It's hideous, really. Godric looked at me.

"Emilie, I will request for your release. You are not meant to be here."

"Yeah well neither are you," I said childishly. I knew Godric was hurting – heck, I didn't need the bond to know that. I was still upset though, and this was the only way I could let my hurt out. Even vampires had their bad days. "And you know it."

The man known as Gabe appeared a while later. He was almost nervous when he handed over the TruBlood. More so towards Godric, even if I was the vampire he had hurt. Godric was the more threatening of us two, I knew that. I held my tongue, taking it from him quietly. I didn't say thanks. It was the least he could do.

What surprised me the most was that we could walk around. I don't think I would've been able to just walk outside however, as someone would most definitely notice that. In fact, I didn't even want to leave. I wanted to stay here with Godric. If I could convince him to leave and stay living, that would the best option. The other option was staying with him until he died – and I would go with him.

Only I knew I had a limited amount of time before he'd command me to stay alive. It was completely unfair, but I could see where he was coming from. If the roles had been reversed, and I was the Maker, I would command him to live. It sounds cruel, but that's what happens when you love someone so much you become selfish, and in my case I'd have to be selfish for eternity. Immortality can be a bitch sometimes.

We were able to walk upstairs, even chat to certain people. There was one woman who I enjoyed talking to the most. She was sitting at a desk, twiddling the phone between her ear and her shoulder. I sat in the chair across from her, outside in the hallway. I wanted to memorize the layout of this place.

"Excuse me, can I help you ma'am?"

"No, I'm looking for some blood to drink."

Okay, so maybe being so dark was unnecessary. But I hated every single person in this church, and for good reason too. They hated vampires. I, being a vampire, therefore did not like them. Hence we had a horrible relationship. The woman went pale, and almost wet herself.

"Emilie!" Sarah scolded. I had heard her footsteps a while ago. Glad she heard me. But this was something I didn't like about Sarah. She treated Godric and I like silly children. Not creatures that were much stronger, and well able to snap her neck. Oh how I wish I could. Then, beside her, was Steve Newlin. I recognized him from the TV.

"Oh so this is the famous Emilie I've been hearing all about!" he exclaimed when he saw me. That lady in her office looked bewildered, which Steve quickly noticed. "Oh don't worry about it Loretta, Emilie's just a bit of a joker from what Godric's been saying! She doesn't mean any harm."

'Doesn't mean any harm'?

How does Eric control his temper? Did it take a thousand years of listening to idiots like this? I don't think I could go through all that. Perhaps burning in the sunlight would be an escape, as Godric seemed to think it was.

"Yeah. I'm just kiddin' with you, Loretta," I smiled, once again trying to appear pleasant. It didn't really work, because Loretta's heartbeat sped up. She either found me attractive, or she was terrified of me. Maybe both, from the way she was staring.

I noticed the large difference in Eric and I compared to our Maker. We wanted to live from the start, choosing life. Poor Godric never had the option of what he wanted. A slave from the start, literally. Born into it, made to work for an evil man who turned out to be a monster in everyway. It wasn't fair, none of it. I blinked when Sarah waved a hand in front of my face.

"How would _you_ like to meet the other members?" she asked, as if it was some grand reward or prize for being such a good little vampire, not biting anyone or killing.

"Come along Emilie," Sarah smiled.

"I do not think that is a good idea. I think Emilie should stay with me," a cool voice interrupted. Godric, of course. He didn't meet my eyes – probably worried of the hurt look I always had when I looked at him now. It was almost midnight now. Eric would be going insane out there, somewhere in Shreveport, calling and ringing. Would he come here?

"Godric!" Steve smiled. "Nice to see you!"

"Actually, I'm going to go wait in the basement. Being captive and all has been a blast, but I'm feeling…tired." Lie, I just wanted to get away from everyone.

When I went downstairs, I shut the door quietly beside me, sighing to myself. Suddenly a pale arm draped over my shoulders, a knife appearing at my throat. A painfully familiar voice whispered in my ear, enjoying every second of this.

"Looks like I found you Emilie."

Oh God; it was William.


	13. An Eye For An Eye

**A/N: **_Sookie wasn't going to be in this, but hey, sh*t happens ;) Oh Sookie, you and your wild antics... Enjoy! :D If there are any mistakes, I apologize but I didn't get time to read over it! Oops. Let me know what you think, 'cause I've been struggling with this story lately! :D  
_

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**Chapter Twelve – An Eye For An Eye**

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"_All truth is simple... is that not doubly a lie?__"_  
- **Friedrich Nietzsche**

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"You know, I'd love to know what shampoo Sarah uses. She smells like strawberries. Really insane, totally devout strawberries," William smiled, laying on Godric's bed. I stood near the door. If I made a run for it however, he'd snap my neck. He was way older than me – there was no way of knowing just how old though. Godric probably knew I was feeling nervous and scared, but I'd been feeling that since I'd found him. He wouldn't think there was anything truly wrong, because none of my feelings had changed. Just intensified.

"You're insane, William."

"Call me Uncle Will. Now you see Em, you killed George. George was going to be your Maker, but _nooo_, you had to get Godric to snap George's neck. I dare say that was a mistake on your part," William grinned. He was a psychopath, and I'm pretty sure he had lost his mind a few centuries ago. There was blood on his chin, and it smelled delicious. That made me feel horrible, because I knew a member of the Fellowship had just died for William's own blood-lust.

"What do you want? Why can't you just let me go and move on?"

"Move on?" He repeated curiously. Suddenly he was off the bed, holding my neck. "I'm so tired of moving on. I thought becoming immortal was the best thing that ever happened to be me, but humans are only destroying themselves! War after war, famine after famine, all for imaginary Gods and greed."

I stayed silent, knowing he wasn't finished. His hair and eyes looked much darker than I remember. Was it always that spiked and perfect? He seemed to hold himself with confidence, and he was about an inch or two taller than Godric. He looked to be in his twenties, but we both knew he was much older than that.

"Why do they fight for these _Gods_, Emilie?"

His voice cracked as he turned to me, looking more menacing than he had before. Was he insane? He must be. He looked like he could barely hold onto reality.

"Are we not their Gods? Faster than them, stronger than them. We need blood sacrifice, which is what they'd been doing for centuries. And probably still are, but of course they can't come out and say that. They have to pretend, to fit in with society."

He smashed an old lamp to the ground, sending glass flying everywhere. His hand was bleeding, but he just picked out the glass before it healed itself. He sighed, leaning his head against the wall.

"Those people upstairs don't understand anything. I've seen wars. I long for a time when they just focus on what is here on Earth instead of hidden behind stars, don't you understand?"

I had my eyes wide open, eyebrows raised. I was certain I looked dumbfounded. Will turned to me with his fists clenched. He was smiling though, a creepy and lost smile that made me step back a little.

"George understood me. You took him away from me. Or rather, _Godric_ did. So if I kill you, you die, he feels pain. I feel happiness and joy. It all works out. An eye for an eye. Godric loses a Child just like I lost mine."

"George was your Child?" I asked quietly, frowning.

Will let out a bitter laugh. "Brother, lover, friend. Everything."

Suddenly he jumped and was back to his normal, over-confident self. He strolled towards me, but instead of killing me straight away, he began to fight with me. Pushing, biting and ripping. It hurt like Hell when his fangs bit me, and my skin would heal immediately before he dug right back in. Our fight lasted a mere minute, but even in that time he had done a lot of damage.

Picking me up was simple, and he mumbled to himself as he flung the bedroom door open, heading upstairs. He had me by my arms, dragging with ease. In my haze I could hear a horrified scream. William ignored whoever it was, instead continuing to mumble.

"Gotta do it. George will be mad, but I had to do it. Kill her, burn in the Sun. The Sun. I'll finally see the sun," he mumbled sadly, his words almost over-lapping. He had totally lost his mind. Finally we came to the main chapel room where they prayed. "Godric!"

Godric was there. My wounds were healing quickly, enough for me to be able to stand and push William away.

"Emilie," Godric whispered, looking shocked. It's rare that anything ever shocks Godric. Some of my blood ran down my neck. It stung, but the two holes in my neck were healing fast. Godric's fangs came out as he took a more aggressive pose.

I knew Godric had protected Eric fiercely when he was first turned. Eric was notably weaker, usually getting himself into trouble when he annoyed a stronger vampire. It took him a long time to learn how to control his emotions and hold back. I'm pretty terrible at it myself. It must run in the family.

"Oh Godric, we finally found you. Hey, do you remember a guy named _George_?"

Godric growled. I noticed Sarah in the background, a hand over her mouth. I must be covered in an awful lot of blood. She was terrified, I could practically smell her fear. William was the first to make a move. First, he cracked my arm in two. I screamed from the pain, but it would heal by itself. Next, he threw me to the ground forcefully. The man was strong, but he was more interested in making Godric feel pain than what I felt it seemed as he turned to face Godric.

"I'll be back for you. You get a head start," Will whispered.

"Emilie!" Godric yelled. I looked up at him. "Get Sarah and the others out of here! There's a lock-in!"

What was a lock-in? I hesitated, but he anticipated that. In a firm voice – the voice only a Maker can use – he said, "That is an order Emilie." In other words, a command I couldn't stop myself from fulfilling. It was like someone else was moving for me, forcing me to do this. I stood up, snapping my arm back into place. It would hurt more if I was human obviously, but thankfully I'm not. It made a clicking noise, the skin stitching itself back together. It was amazing.

At vampire speed, I appeared next to Sarah. She squeaked in fear, but relaxed when she saw me. She was still terrified.

"I wouldn't go out that way Emilie," William roared with laughter. Godric was circling him like a vulture, but he looked unsure of that comment. "Fire! Fire!" he grinned happily. "Thought I wouldn't come prepared?"

I smelled it before the humans did, even if they were panicking. I didn't need to breathe. The front way was the only way out that I knew of. "Wait here!" I said quickly. Running back towards the basement, I ran down the stairs, and looked around. I heard screaming and screeching down the hallway, assuming it was human. A blonde girl was on the floor, and Gabe was on top of her.

She was screaming rather loudly, and it hurt my ears. I got inside her little cage easily. Was a human being kept captive down here? How had I not heard her before? I didn't recognized the tanned, brown-eyed girl. I picked Gabe up, glancing at him with distaste. Another human I would rather drain than even look at, but it can't be helped.

Suddenly I dropped him, feeling pain coming from Godric. My panic for him distracted me as Gabe tried to steady himself and get off the floor.

"You little vampire _bitch_!" he gasped, rubbing his neck. Godric's pain vanished. Perhaps he had healed? I would know if he had died – I couldn't handle it if he did. But yet I felt confident he could beat William, even if we weren't sure exactly how old Will was. We had guesses from Lysus, but even he couldn't know. Surely he couldn't be older than 2000? Was there even a vampire who was older than that?

Gabe grabbed my leg, pulling himself up. I glanced down at him, and kicked him. 'Almost' by accident, I kicked him too hard. His skull cracked.

"Oh shit," I cursed. "I am gonna pay for that later."

I heard the woman's shallow breaths beside me. When I looked at her, she had her eyes set on me in amazement, her chest rising and falling as she struggled to keep pace. Her blouse was cut open, and she seemed surprised I wasn't ogling her like most vampires do.

"Don't you hate when that happens?" I sighed, motioning towards Gabe.

She spoke with a deep Southern accent, a strained grin on her face. "He deserved that though, didn't he?"

"I don't think I'm the best person to judge him but…yeah, he did."

The worst thing I was I only felt the tiniest bit of guilt for what I did to Gabe. He was a bad guy anyway, right? Says the newborn vampire murderer. I rubbed my eyes tiredly, more concerned about Godric than anyone else.

"Do I know you?" I asked the girl. I would rather be running back to Godric, and helping him with William. But he did say help the humans, and that was what I was going to do. She didn't smell entirely human to be honest. Not vampire though. Not quite anything I knew at all.

"I-I'm Sookie Stackhouse, from Bon Temps," she said. "Are you…Are you Emilie?"

I cocked my head to the side, trying to think of the name. I'd heard it once before. Eric had said it, that much I was sure of. Something about her being different. From the smell of her blood, this was definitely Sookie. As if second-guessing my curious look for blood-lust or something, she said, "Bill Compton owns me."

How pitiful it must be for her to have to say that. Vampires must've tried to bite her before, otherwise she wouldn't have said that so suddenly.

"First of all, I don't really want to drink your blood…secondly, who's Bill Compton? And how do you know my name anyway?"

"Eric mentions you from time to time," she said vaguely. "Bill is my boyfriend."

"Oh well that narrows it down," I replied sarcastically. A vampire called Bill, huh? "Nice to meet you, Sookie!" I offered my hand to help her up, once again being very careful. I'm not entirely certain of my strength yet, especially when there was such an over-powering smell of blood upstairs.

"Emilie?" a voice yelled. "Where the fuck are you?"

"Eric?"

He appeared in the doorway, and he had to crouch a little to fit under it. He looked pissed of, but a little relieved to finally find me. He took in Sookie's appearance briefly before he stood in front of me, baring his teeth. Wow, Eric really didn't care about Sookie for a moment. There's a surprise.

"The fire upstairs is spreading. We need to get out, _now_."

"What about William? The humans?" I asked as he marched over to Sookie and took her by her wrist. He glanced at Gabe, then Sookie's ripped blouse, quickly putting two and two together.

"Humans…some have died, some are still running around like headless chickens," he said, with no compassion. "William is about to die."

Eric said it as if he spoke about the weather. 'About to'?

"Take care of Sookie then!" I muttered quickly, running past him and up the stairs in a flash. I heard him yelling at me, telling me Godric had ordered him to find me and protect me, but I ignored Eric. He could easily drag Sookie up at vampire speed, but I think she's in shock.

I found Godric, just as he was about to snap William's neck. Godric had some open wounds on his arms, as if William had scratched him a thousand times over to get him to let go of him. They were healing, one by one. On his face, he had a mark healing over his right eyebrow, the only side I could see. Blood dripped down his dark hair, his fangs out in a snarl. He picked up a stake, and it looked like it had been ripped from the wooden altar. The altar itself was in bits, and I was guessing one of these two vampires had been thrown into it.

"Godric," I whispered, shocked. I'd never seen him like that before.

He looked at me, just as he staked William. "You're safe with me, Em. I promise."


	14. Prisoner

**A/N: **_Thanks for the reviews... :) Enjoy, even if I couldn't fit enough Godric into this :( :D_

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**Chapter ****Thirteen – Prisoner**

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"_You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing."_

_-_**Edgar Allan Poe.**

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Godric and I had split up, each searching different parts of the church. Humans were dead, that much was obvious by the stench of blood in the air. William's body was a bubbling mess at the edge of the altar, which I was glad to turn away from. It smelled worse than the humans right now. Blood normally had a sweeter scent than this. True to his need to protect humans after years of harming them, Godric wanted to save everyone. The guilt in his eyes killed me, and I would do anything to help ease his pain.

"Search the basements. If anyone is alive, save them Emilie."

Save them? I doubted he meant turn them, since I was new to this life myself. So far it had been a real blast, with vampire-killers and silver galore. Godric took the opposite wing of the church. This place was far bigger than I had realized. I found a terrified, well-dressed family hiding behind a desk in an office. I hadn't realized my fangs were still out until the female screamed. I winced at how loud that was, desperately trying to make my fangs go away.

It wasn't as easy as the others made it look. I even banged off the door as I tried to hide them, do anything to make her calm down. Smooth Emilie, real smooth. I'm really showing the humans that the vampires are truly terrifying, banging against doors as I tried to retract my fangs.

"The Lord will guide us, the Lord will guide us," the father babbled, blessing his children and wife.

I rolled my eyes. Eric must secretly be a Saint, if he's able to put up with this sort of psychotic behaviour for the last thousand years. And Godric must be up there with the Gods to handle it for _two thousand_ years. The father looked at me with frightened eyes.

"Uh…I'm not here to hurt you," I said lamely. "I want to do the opposite actually. Please, you have to go now. There's a fire upstairs and -…"

"How do we trust your kind?" the wife cried dramatically. I swear Steve Newlin really knew how to find the crazies.

I frowned. "_My kind_ isn't the ones burning vampires in the sunlight, claiming it's to save the human race. Your kind, however, is upstairs preaching while leaving you down here to burn, not caring at all about your safety. Out of the two of us, who sounds like the nicest group right now?"

After some brief hesitation, they scuttled away. They took forever running up the stairs – ever since I was turned, I can't help but get annoyed at how slow humans are. Was I really that irritating?

I winced again at the loud buzzing noise. I don't know what it meant, and the little blonde child turned to face me. She was around four or five, her hair in pigtails. I was still walking behind this family, trying to get them outside like Godric ordered, when she slowed her pace.

"Thank you ma'am, for savin' us," she smiled.

My maternal instincts that made me want to squeal and coo at how cute she was – not a very strong vampire-like thing to do - were about to take over when a man with a gun appeared. It's insane how easily that can ruin things. The family froze, but the man motioned them forward quickly.

"Go Lou!" the man said. Lou and his family ran through the corridors. Well, that was my good deed done for the day. This man holding a gun smiled at me, and he looked like someone I knew. He was very handsome and good-looking for sure, with brown eyes and messy dark blonde hair. "…Uh…hi."

"Hi?" I said, dumbfounded. He wasn't pointing that gun at me. Was he on my side? He followed my gaze to the gun, and then laughed.

"Oh no, don't worry, it's just a paintball gun. I just needed somethin' to fight with."

"Of course, how silly of me," I laughed drily. "Do I know you?"

"Jason Stackhouse ma'am," he smiled politely, even outstretching a hand. Not a vampire-hater, I hoped. It couldn't be a trick, could it? I was trying to think one step ahead. Ambushes weren't exactly rare. Stan bragged about the many antics he had gotten up to when he was ambushed, how he'd taken down almost fifty humans in seconds _with_ silver on. He made sure to emphasize that he had silver on. I didn't know if he was telling the truth or not, but I doubted it.

"Stackhouse? Like Sookie?"

"You know my sister?"

"She's an...acquaintance. I'm Emilie, just ask and she'll know. Look Jason, I need to go like right now," I said urgently. "Will you be okay?"

He seemed touched by the friendly concern. Vampires might frighten Jason a little, judging by the smell of his fear and sweat, and by how hard his heart was pounding right now, but he seemed to want to help us. Therefore I was going to help him, too. He nodded, giving me a quick salute as he jogged past me.

"Sure Emilie!"

I went into the room Sarah called the Sanctuary. There were sleeping-bags and blankets all over the pews, with a few board games like Monopoly and Scrabble on the ground. This was like one big sacrificial sleepover. Had the entire community gone mad?

I spotted Eric and Sookie, her heels tapping against the polished floors. She saw me and gave that strained smile. I was wondering if she did it only when she was nervous. Eric glanced at me, summoning me over with a flick of the wrist. Oh he's such a jerk, thinking he can tell me what to do just because he's one thousand years old. But now was not the time to squabble with him. In a flash, I was at Sookie's side, noticing she was shaking a little.

"Emilie, where is Godric?" Eric asked as we walked, looking down at me.

"We split up. Like always, he wants to save the humans first," I smiled.

Eric gave a grunt of disgust. Perhaps he didn't care about the humans. I would rather they were saved though.

"Where's the exit?" Eric asked.

"Back that way," Sookie answered, pointing behind her. I knew no other way out either, so I shrugged when Eric looked at me.

"There are several exits actually," a new voice said. I focused on the stage in front of us, seeing the cowardly Steve Newlin emerge. "For you, the easiest one is straight to Hell."

Original. He had a tacky white suit on, probably trying to symbolise peace and purity like he always preached about. He eyed me up and down, smiling placidly. I watched his every move, narrowing my eyes with anger.

"Emilie, my dear! What are you doing up here? You're going to miss the big event tomorrow," he grinned. He said it as if we were going to some kids birthday party, and I was throwing a tantrum or something. "You want to atone for your sins, don't you?"

"Go to Hell," Sookie hissed angrily. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye with surprise, and saw Eric looking at me. He shook his head, turning back to Steve. Godric and Eric were always protective of those they love. Even if Eric had trouble admitting he felt that emotion sometimes. To him, it was showing weakness, and Lord knows he'd never do that.

Sookie had a vampire boyfriend, and I understood she felt anger for the way Steve spoke. She had morals, thankfully. Angry humans spilled into the room carrying all sorts of weapons. Some wooden, some silver. All very dangerous for us. We were outnumbered. Could I even kill a human? I didn't want to, but if it were to protect those I love, I would be able. Eric would take out a good few, but that wouldn't be enough.

"Let us leave!" Sookie cried. "Save yourselves! No one has to die!"

Eric was putting on a more aggressive form. Any second now his fangs would be out. Godric said not to harm any humans. I would never go against his wishes, and neither would Eric. Would he? I chewed my lip at the scent of new blood. A man in the crowd was bleeding on his head. It smelled good.

Steve was talking again, babbling on about wars with vampires and humans. "The war has begun, you evil whore of Satan."

"Whoa, harsh," I frowned. 'Whore of Satan'? Steve is certainly the world's greatest drama queen.

"You vampires cast the first stone by killing my family," Steve continued. I hadn't known that. "The lines have been drawn. You're either with us, or against us. We are prepared for Armageddon."

"The vampire you're holding prisoner got away!" Sookie replied straight away. Steve's eyes shifted to meet mine, thinking he had a whole other prisoner to spare. "He's a sheriff, someone sent for help!"

"I'm not concerned for Godric. Any vampire will do for our grand celebration, right Em?" Steve shrugged. Eric growled a little. So, the Almighty Eric did sometimes lose his cool. I stared right into Steve's eyes. I would give my own life for Godric, no question. "And we got another right here!"

With shameless cheer, he pointed right at Eric. My turn to growl and get angry. This was totally insane. These humans surrounding us were all nuts. I wanted to protect Godric most of all. He put himself down so much, that when these humans told him 'Yes, you are bad, the only way you can repent is to burn', he believed them totally. Eric looked from Sookie, to me, and back at Steve.

I knew that look. He couldn't do this. I stepped forward, but he was quicker. "I'll be fine."

Steve smiled expectantly at Eric. Steve was talking, but I couldn't even hear what he was saying. Eric wouldn't give up his life like this, would he? Where was Godric? I was panicking. Eric was much older than me. He could handle silver a lot longer than I ever could, but what else could I do? We had no back-up right now.

Willingly, Eric lay down on the table, and they put silver on him. I gasped, seeing the smoke rise. As if to be sure, Steve motioned for a silver handcuff to be put on my wrist, which would only be a precaution. He was convinced vampires like me would hurt him.

"No wait," Sookie gasped, about to stop the man putting the cuff on me.

"Sookie, it's fine," I murmured as best I could. It burned, but Eric was going through much worse. It wouldn't stop me from biting and killing a human, but after a few minutes it would slow me down considerably. The human had the keys held tightly in his hands, afraid to even touch me. He refused to look me in the eye.

I wasn't going to harm him – I understood he was just following orders. Steve only wanted to make sure I was going to stay put. I wouldn't run if that's what he feared. In fact, Steve looked filled with joy as he looked down at Eric. The smell of his burning skin made me feel so sick. Some tears stung at my eyes. Not for me, but for Eric and Godric. Bloody tears were impossible to stop. Eric's fangs were out from the pain.

Steve was talking about Jesus, but I noticed the look of fear in the crowd's eyes. They didn't look so sure about Newlin anymore. One woman was frowning, her fear more evident than the others. She wanted to look away from the horrific sight in front of her, but she couldn't.

Sookie was struggling against the men holding her. I didn't, but I groaned inwardly as the silver cuff burned into me. The men surrounding me all had stakes and guns.

"I…I offer myself in exchange for Godric's freedom," Eric whispered. He looked towards me. "And the girls'…as well." His eyes were dark. He was being stupid and brave, more reckless.

"That's noble. But the human is a traitor to her race. The human race. She hardly deserves mercy. Don't even get me started on Emilie. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on her that she was the worst kind of sinner, one who is in denial. Maybe we should tie her to you so you can meet the sun together."

I wouldn't let them do that. They might just stake me before I even try to move, who knows, but I had to do something if they did try to harm Sookie. Steve claimed she was human. Her scent didn't smell like a humans. Steve began walking down the steps, and slowly I let my fangs come out. He smiled. "She's fry like a marshmallow…"

The noise from outside the doors shut him up. I hoped it was Godric, my eyes widening a little. The man – whose grip was quite weak – tried to hold me tighter. I couldn't even feel it, but the silver was really starting to make me feel tired. Eric was lucky he was so old.

"Sookie!"

In ran a dark-haired vampire, making as dramatic an entrance as he possibly could. Eric seemed to roll his eyes from the table, even in his pain, which made me smile. He ran forward, making Steve put a gun to Sookie's head. This was all so far-fetched. Only weeks ago, I was a normal human buying chocolate at Marilyn's shop.

"If you shoot her, everyone here will die!"

Is this Bill Compton, the man Sookie had mentioned? Eric only spoke of him once when we were on the phone. He called him a pompous drama queen. Sookie's heart always pounded more when she looked at Bill. He had his fangs out, his eyes gleaming in the light.

It could only get worse from here.


	15. White Lies

**A/N: **_We're close to the end!__ I had a bit of writer's block lately too. _ Finally! Just another chapter or two, I guess! :D Didn't get time to edit either, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes. Enjoy! :)  


_*****Warning: Curses!*****_

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen – White Lies**

* * *

"_An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.__"  
_**- ****Robert A. Heinlein**

* * *

"Let her go now!"

I was starting to understand Eric's rants about why he found Bill Compton to be annoying. Pointless threats and violence were clearly getting him nowhere. The silver cuff around my wrist had burned straight through my flesh to my bone. Painful, but I'd deal with it. Steve Newlin looked at Bill, rolling his eyes before he looked at Sookie.

"Honestly, what do they see in you? Soldiers, some silver chains for our friend here."

I was wondering about that myself. Sookie's blood smelled good, sure, and I know she isn't human. No one with that scent could be human. Humans normally have a tangy sweet scent mixed with sweat and fear when they're around unfamiliar vampires like me. Bill looked torn, his eyes meeting mine before shifting back to Sookie.

"Don't, he's done nothing to you!" Sookie argued.

"Sookie I will be fine."

Oh my God, was this the vampire version of Romeo and Juliet? Do I get all gooey and mushy around Godric? Where was he anyway? I began to panic as I thought of him. What if he was in danger, and here I was bound by some silver, unable to help without taking a bullet to the head?

A bullet wouldn't kill me. Though wooden ones would, or silver ones. Something told me Steve was more than prepared.

"Newlin!"

Some kind of shot hit Newlin's hand, and I thanked the Gods when I saw Jason Stackhouse, causing him to drop the gun. He had saved us momentarily, and I vowed I would return the favor some day. I smiled. He seemed…_silly_, which would be the nicest word possible for this Jason boy.

"Let her go fuck-wad!" Original Jason. Real creative.

He shot at Steve's hit, hitting him right in the centre of the forehead. I grinned and whooped, happy to watch Steve as he stumbled backwards, screaming in pain. Even from here, I could see the tiniest confused smile on Eric's face. Bill took his chance, shoving our captives away.

He embraced Sookie in an instant. I looked at Eric, immediately going to his side and pulling off the chains. Bending down low so he would be the only one to hear me, I whispered, "Is this guy for real?"

"You thought I exaggerated when I spoke of Bill Compton?" he growled, though his anger was not aimed at Bill really. More at the man who had kept his family captive for a few days. Jason, I noticed, was being held back by some Fellowship members. They wouldn't kill him though, not yet. The tables were turning for Steve.

Eric healed immediately, but my cuffs hadn't been taken off. I hated to admit I wouldn't be able to remove them myself. He was up in moments, throwing Steve to the ground.

"Eric!" I gasped. "Godric said-…"

"He kept you prisoner," Eric hissed, so quiet that only Steve and I would hear him. And possibly Bill, but he was too concerned about Sookie to care.

"Do not kill him!" Sookie yelled. I was grateful she was helping me. Godric said not to spill any blood. Eric was forgetting, his anger becoming too overwhelming to hear anything else. All he cared about was ripping out Steve's vocal chords.

"Kill the fucker!" Jason yelled.

"Go ahead," Steve panted, finding it difficult to breath. Like Eric, my fangs were out, but I didn't mean for them to be. Eric was older than me. He could control his. "Murder us! Murder us before God! We are willing to die!"

The humans behind us didn't look so sure, and one even looked fit to wet himself when I turned to face them. He had some silver chains lying limply in his hands, sniffling a little. It was a lie. None of them wanted to die, not like this. I could hear the sounds before the humans could, and so could Eric. He raised his head, looking at the doors. I followed his gaze, hoping it was Godric.

I stepped forward, a smile on my face, ready to greet him.

I was sorely disappointed when the doors opened. Though I was grateful we had some back-up, knowing it was Stan the moment I saw the outline of his cowboy hat. Trust Stan to wear a cowboy hat to a vampire rescue. Everyone had their eyes on Stan as he waltzed in.

"Steve Newlin!" he yelled, his voice booming throughout the entire church.

Steve gasped, and my eyes flitted back to his. He didn't look so ready for death anymore. I looked back at Stan.

"You have pushed us too far," Stan said. In the dark light, I saw his eyes lock with mine. He glanced me up and down, his eyes landing on the raw marking on my wrist. The moment he made me aware of my wound, it began to throb from pain. Godric would feel my pain, he'd be here soon. Other vampires lined the balconies above the Sanctuary, all looking vicious and rough. I recognized a few. Stan's eyes went back to Steve, looking away from my bloody wrist. "You expect us to sit on our thumbs while you round up your men to come lynch us? We'll kill you first. Same way we did your father."

Oh God Stan is so stupid sometimes. He just does things without thinking properly. Underneath that cowboy hat, you'd expect to find some brain cells, but nope. He's more like a tumbleweed sometimes, and I wished he'd learn to filter what he says.

"Murderer!" Steve yelped, making Eric growl as he pushed Steve back down. Steve had no chance of getting away from Eric anyway. Eric would crush him like a bug in seconds. Something Godric would feel even more guilty for.

"Destroy them." A simple command from Stan that sent things into pure chaos. "All of them!"

"Stan, no!" I yelled. I focused on Eric, pulling him backwards. He must've let me do it, because I was younger than Eric. If he truly wanted to kill Steve, he could've pushed me away from him. He stood to his full height, looking down at me. Vampires were rushing forward, killing humans. I could smell the blood. It made me dizzy. Normally I could control myself, but this was too much.

Eric's cold hand was on my shoulder as he towered over me. "Stop breathing," he ordered. I did as he asked, but it offered little relief. I had already smelled fresh blood, and it smelled so much better than the rotten TruBloods. Where was Godric? I hated the feeling of being desperate, but this place was a massacre without him.

"Enough!"

Speak of the Devil…or rather, an Angel. Godric was there, standing in front of the organ piano I had heard Steve brag about before. I have never felt such relief, knowing he was okay. I could feel his pain, but that was emotional. He looked unharmed.

"You came for me I assume?" Godric asked, directing it towards Stan who was holding a man, just about to bite him. "Underling?"

"Yes Sheriff," Stan answered like a disobedient child.

"These people have not harmed me. You see, we can co-exist. Mr. Newlin, I do not wish to create bloodshed when none is called for," Godric continued. "Help me set an example. If we leave you in peace, will you do the same?"

Steve was on the ground, a bright green paintball mark on the centre of his forehead. When I looked at him, I found he was already staring at me, narrowing his eyes. I was still a sinner in his eyes. Nothing I could do about that, even if Godric thought we could co-exist. He looked at Godric with hate in his eyes.

"I will not negotiate with sub-humans. Kill me," he said, kneeling before Eric. Eric was tempted, but obedient to Godric. "Do it. Jesus will protect me."

"I am actually older than your Jesus," Godric said. "I wished I could've known him, but I missed it." A smile came to my lips. He was witty, though Steve didn't appreciate it. Godric vanished. Even though I was a vampire, I found it hard to track the blur as he moved from the spot above us, to being right behind us, picking Steve up by the collar. "Good people? Who of you is willing to die for this man's madness?"

No one answered. My eyes were wide as I looked at Godric, seeing the sadness in his eyes as he watched the humans. They had claimed that they wanted to do anything for Godric. Now they were just standing, watching as a 2000 year old vampire called him insane.

"That's what I thought. Stand down everyone," Godric said, sounding annoyed. "People. Go home! It's over now."

"Please don't leave me!" Steve begged as his 'loyal followers' left in groups. I felt sad. In a thousand years, supposing I lived that long as a vampire, would I have to deal with men like Steve Newlin again? How could people follow him so blindly?

With a disgusted look, Godric threw Steve to the floor. "I dare say my faith in human kind is stronger than yours." He took a step forward as Steve tried to get up. "Come."

I followed, watching as Stan failed to try and convince Godric of how wrong the humans were. Needless to say, the journey home was silent and awkward.

* * *

Godric kissed my previously bloody wrist. He had made Isabel bring some TruBlood for me, frowning at the wound. I had watched with amazement as he simply pulled the silver cuff in two, paying no attention to the small burn it gave him. In seconds, the skin was healed. I admit I had gotten a little carried away kissing him like a maniac, which was quite embarrassing when Isabel walked in with some A Positive in her hands.

The house was buzzing with both humans and vampires. There was the smell of freshly made food for the humans who were here. I wanted to ask Godric questions. Would he stay? Would he meet the Sun, or would he stay just because the Fellowship was destroyed? At least it was, for now.

"I am sorry, Emilie."

I blinked, staring at him. We were sitting on his bed, some TruBloods sitting snuggly on my lap. They were empty. Godric looked straight into my eyes. It annoyed me that he constantly put the blame on himself. Even if I had followed him – which I don't regret – he'd blame himself.

"Godric, are you crazy?" I whispered, unable to find the strength to yell and tear at my hair in frustration. He chuckled quietly.

"After two thousand years, I'm not quite sure."

"Don't leave us Godric." He knew what I meant. Not just me. He would be leaving Eric and the entire Nest of he died. "I know I'm being selfish but-…"

He grabbed my hand, smiling. "You are not the selfish one, child. I think the world would be better without me. My conscience cannot rest, I can't handle any more blood on my hands Em. If you could only understand it."

"So in two thousand years, I will want to die as well?" I was being unfair, and a tad bit childish. All I wanted was for him to be happy, yet I couldn't let him die to accomplish that.

"I will not let you die, do you not recall?" he chuckled. "I can command things. I know Eric would follow orders."

"He can't be with me 24/7. That's taking away his freedom and-…"

"Emilie. Just let us enjoy this…party," Godric said. He was avoiding the question, and we both knew it.

* * *

The party was in full swing, with Godric sitting at the centre. He was still sad. I could feel it. I spotted Eric looking at Jason, and immediately blocked him as he went to talk to him. He raised an eyebrow, looking down at me.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"Why are you going to Jason?"

He smirked. "Jason has been selling V, _little sister._ That's illegal in my area, and I intend to stop it."

"How do you intend to do that? Drain him, leave him in the woods somewhere?"

"Woods?" he chuckled. "Then he could be traced."

My eyes widened, and I shoved him. "That's not funny Eric. Listen, I owe Jason one for saving us when he did. You know it as well as I do. Please?"

"Then you'd owe me."

"Fine, whatever."

As I walked away, I heard Eric snickering. "I wasn't going to kill him anyway." Ugh. He is such a-…

"Hi there Emilie!"

"Hey Bill, hey Sookie," I smiled.

I looked at Sookie, who was snuggled beside Bill Compton. He _bowed_ to me. I'm younger than him, which meant in vampire society I was less important, but he bowed anyway. I appreciated it though. Sookie put on her strained smile. I could smell her weird blood again, and she smiled.

"It does smell weird," she agreed, without me having to say anything. A mind-reader? Could they _really_ exist?

"Hey Sookie, what are you exactly?" I asked, smiling at her.

"I'm a waitress," she shrugged. Clever girl. Someone was hiding her secrets carefully. Oh well. The party must go on.


	16. Dig Deeper

**A/N: **_I made a huge, HUGE mistake in the last chapter, which some noticed. Some didn't which was a little lucky, eh? :D Sookie can't read a vampire's mind, my bad! But hey, new chapter :D It's a little long!_

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen – Dig Deeper  
**

* * *

"_Boldness be my friend."_  
**- ****William Shakespeare**

* * *

The party wasn't so bad. Godric's mood had improved only slightly, but I still worried. I stood chatting to other vampires. The humans stared at me in awe. Some were afraid. I found this funny. These humans were already 'owned' by other vampires though. There were only two or three strays. Eric had called them 'fangbangers', a term I was getting used to.

I could see Eric now, looming above Jason. Even from here, I could hear bits and pieces of their conversation, but I wasn't that interested. The moment Jason left Eric, I swooped in to talk to Jason.

"Hello Jason!" I said, hoping I sounded friendly.

He looked nervous, and his heartbeat increased when he locked eyes on me. "H-Howdy Emilie."

"I wanted to thank you," I said. "If you hadn't shot Steve when you did…well, who knows what would've happened."

"Ah it weren't nothin'," he smiled, blushing and avoiding my gaze. He was cute, that's for sure. He's quite lucky Eric didn't murder him for selling V in his area.

"It _was_ something for me. Thanks again."

I joined Godric, kneeling beside him. He looked at me, his eyes lighting up a little. We had both been avoiding the question of what he would do next. He still felt pain. I was torn by my selfish need to keep him on this Earth. I loved him, and I had told him so. Perhaps it wasn't enough.

Then again, Godric had no feelings of self-worth. His guilty conscience gave him no relief no matter what he did, no matter how many good deeds he fulfilled. He looked thoughtful, and he smiled at me. It made me feel alive for just a moment or two.

"How are you feeling Godric?" I smiled.

"Better." He glanced at the people in line in front of him. "Have you had some TruBlood yet? You look paler than usual."

I laughed. "Oh thanks Godric."

He blinked. "Still beautiful, do not worry." He took my hand in his, resting them together on the arm-rest.

I would've blushed if I could have. He said it in such a sincere, quiet voice. When I looked back up, he had a goofy grin on his face. I wish I could make him smile more often, though I knew he was still sad on the inside. His eyes drifted upwards towards the others the room, suddenly distracted.

I followed his gaze, watching Isabel bring a traitor into the living room and fling him to the ground. He was groveling, whimpering as he tried to get back up. I winced, feeling bad for the man. Traitors were severely dealt with in our world.

"Hugo," Godric said, but his eyes looked at Isabel. "He is your human, is he not?"

My brows furrowed in sadness as Hugo looked at Godric. I had met him a few times before, though we only spoke once or twice. I can't say we were anything more than acquaintances.

"Yes he is," Isabel said. This was hurting her, but she had a very brave face on. It made me respect her even more. Stan was standing behind them, his arms crossed over his chest, glaring from beneath his cowboy hat.

"Do you love him?"

Everyone was silent. Isabel couldn't bring herself to look into Godric's eyes, and I squeezed his hand a little for strength. He squeezed back, though I doubt anyone else noticed that. I met Sookie's eyes, and she quickly looked down at Hugo.

"I-I…I thought I did," Isabel shrugged quietly. Her voice cracked, and I felt her pain.

I tried to imagine what it would be like in her shoes. I don't 'own' a human, but I could imagine someone important to me betraying me. Godric, Eric. It would kill me. Yet Isabel stood tall, though she looked fit to burst into bloody tears. Hugo looked to the ground, afraid to meet any eyes.

I was still considered some newborn vampire here, though I was still respected simply because Godric was my Maker. I was the youngest vampire here as far as I knew.

"It appears you love him still," Godric said, the hint of a smile on his face. I felt a surge of love for him myself.

"I do," Isabel admitted.

Stan's eye-roll was obvious. He thought of humans as pets, that vampires should keep. Feed them just to keep them alive, but take their blood just because they're weaker than us. It was a wonder he joined this Nest, when Godric's main goal was to co-exist with humans.

"I'm sorry," Isabel sniffled. "But you are my sheriff. Do with him as you please."

"You are free to go," Godric said after a moment. I looked up in surprise, before grinning at him. Isabel was pretty shocked herself.

"Huh?" Hugo gasped. His face was banged up and dirty. I could smell the blood from here. Thankfully my fangs did not come out. How embarrassing would that have been in front of all these people, whether they were human or not? I couldn't control them yet. Godric said it came with self-control and age.

"What?" Stan yelled, outraged.

"The human is free to go. And do not return. I fear it is not safe for you here." Hugo looked like he would collapse from relief.

"This is a travesty," Stan grumbled.

"This is my verdict," Godric corrected, looking up at him. "Eric?"

Eric had been looking at Hugo with glazed eyes. When Godric called him, he looked up like an obedient puppy. He took a step forward. I could see vampire Bill behind him. Sookie was glancing at him every few moments. Bill's eyes met with mine, and he nodded respectively. He sure had some nice manners. Eric straightened up as Godric spoke.

"Escort them out. Make sure he leaves unharmed."

"Yes Godric."

He walked forward, looking dark and threatening. Then again Eric always looked threatening. He picked Hugo up without much consideration or compassion, dragging him away as Isabel thanked Godric repeatedly. Slowly, whispers filled the room. Isabel followed the two men out.

"Godric," I said, taking an unneeded breath. "That was so kind of you."

He looked me in the eyes, smiling sadly. "Isabel has been loyal to me. She is heartbroken. She knew nothing of this betrayal. Why punish her for her ignorance?"

"Stan is furious," I giggled. Godric's smile widened.

"He will get over it. Stan has his own opinions, and he is not afraid to voice them."

"Yeah, I know that," I huffed, remembering all the commands he had when I first joined this Nest. Do this, do that. He isn't even the sheriff. "What do you think Isabel will do now?"

He shrugged. "Isabel is an old vampire Emilie. Much older than you. She will find another human. Heartbreak heals with time, and we vampires have plenty of that."

Good point. I sat, perched on the armrest, watching vampires come to Godric and thank him. He was so respected. The humans thanked him with nervous heartbeats. He accepted each pleasantry, nodding and shaking hands. If it weren't for the bond between us, I would've guessed he was feeling happier.

Eric's tall frame appeared, strolling towards us. He bowed a little, before kneeling in front of Godric. He glanced at me before he spoke.

"Hugo has been dispatched. I told him not to stop driving until he has reached the Mexican border." Almost as an afterthought, Eric said, "I have arranged for an AB negative human for you. Extremely rare."

Somehow that made me jealous. It was an irritating emotion I didn't like feeling. I kept my eyes fixed on the ground. How could I be jealous of that? It was natural for a vampire to drink from a human, yet I was used to Godric drinking TruBlood.

"Thank you, but I'm not hungry," Godric declined.

"Well you have to feed eventually." Eric looked at me as if he expected me to back him up, two against one. "I doubt the Fellowship had anything to offer."

Eric smiled, but Godric stayed silent. Both Eric and I could feel the pain running through our bond. It vanished as quickly as it came. Godric had learnt to control his emotions, though he sometimes let them slip when things became too much for him to handle.

"Why wouldn't you leave when I first came for you?" Eric whispered.

"Eric…" I began, knowing Godric would not want to say anything.

"No, Emilie," Godric interrupted. He addressed Eric, sitting up in his seat and looking right into his eyes. "They didn't treat me badly. You'd be shocked at how ordinary most of them are."

"They did nothing but fan the flames of hatred for us!" Eric argued, making sure to keep his voice low.

"Let's be honest. We _are_ frightening. After thousands of years, we haven't evolved. We've only grown more brutal. More predatory. I don't see the danger in treating humans as equals. The Fellowship of the Sun arose because we never did so."

"Is that why you didn't fight when they took you?"

My eyes stung, and I hoped I could hold back tears. Godric would have no idea about how much I worried and panicked for him. I feared the worst. I'm sure I would have met the sun if he had died.

"I could've killed every last one of them in minutes," Godric whispered sadly. "And what would that have proven?"

Eric had no answer. Quietly, he said, "Emilie. Come get some TruBlood with me. You have not fed either."

I was never given the option of feeding on a human, right from the day I was turned. It made it hard to ignore _real_ blood when the opportunity arose. Godric shooed me away when I checked to make sure it was okay with him, preferring to sit on his own for a few minutes. He hadn't had any time to think by himself since he got back.

In the kitchen, Eric slammed some cupboards open and shut. He was upset. I knew he wanted me in here to talk about Godric, not to give me TruBlood. I sat at the counter, watching Eric. He slammed a drawer shut so forcefully the handle came off. He flung it towards the bin. He didn't miss, which isn't surprising.

"Eric," I said softly. "It's in the cupboard on your left."

He opened it, grabbing a random bottle of synthetic blood and throwing it to me. I caught it easily. He stood on the other side of the counter, sighing angrily.

"The Fellowship messed with him," he muttered. "The Godric I know wouldn't feel this way."

Eric knew that wasn't true. Godric had grown up a lot in the last hundred or so years. He longed for a world where humans and vampires lived in peace. He felt so much guilt and pain for the suffering he caused humans in the past. Eric had the idea that humans were weaker than us, therefore less important.

"Eric, the Fellowship_ is_ messed up, but I think Godric had these plans to meet the sun in his head a long time before he heard of them. He just wants humans and vampires to co-exist, and-"

"I've known him longer than you have Emilie," he yelled bitterly, slamming his hand against the counter. "Don't tell me what he wants. I already _know_ what he wants."

Eric didn't mean to be so harsh. It still stung a little that he had yelled though. I had never seen him angry before. He was always in control of his emotions. I knew he would do anything for Godric, just like me, and it was killing us to know we couldn't do anything.

"I'm sorry," Eric said, so quietly I had to look up to make sure I hadn't misheard. If it had been in any other situation, I would've reveled in the fact that Eric had actually said sorry to me. Normally he doesn't really care. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. "I just don't want to lose Godric."

"Neither do I."

It looked like we were both afraid.


	17. Timebomb

**A/N: **_Thank you for all the kind reviews and alerts and everything else! I'm trying to update as quickly as I can, but like I've said, I'm getting writer's block about what to do with Godric. Dramatic speeches professing their love for one another on the roof, while Eric stands there like an adorable Viking dummy? I'm not so sure yet ;D _

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**Chapter Sixteen – Timebomb **

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_"Change your thoughts and you change your world. "_ **- Norman Vincent Peale**

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"I just _love_ your dress Em," Sookie smiled. "It's exemplary. That was on my word-of-the-day calendar last time I checked."

I was quickly finding that I was totally in love with Sookie Stackhouse, and her word-of-the-day calendars. I wished she lived here in Dallas, so I could visit her each night and be good friends with her. I had spent most of the night chatting with her, and I could see why Eric liked her. Then again, Eric had more…sexual reasons for liking Sookie, and I knew he'd do anything to get his way.

Right now however, he was trying to pretend he was in a good mood, but both Godric and I knew different. Sookie's mind appeared to be on Bill, who she would glance out the window at every now and then. He was talking to Jason. 'Man-stuff', apparently.

I felt Godric's eyes on me, and I smiled at him before looking back at Sookie. His mood improved for just a few moments, and I hoped I had something to do with that. I was drinking some TruBlood, enjoying the party again. Eric's outburst had surprised me, making me keep an eye on him as he walked around.

"I should get a word-of-the-day calendar," I sighed wistfully.

"I can send you one for Christmas! Arlene always gets me one," she smiled. I had no idea who Arlene was, but she sounded nice enough.

A woman appeared, looking cat-like and a little mad. Sookie didn't sense this immediately, which surprised me as the woman clearly had a sadistic look in her eye. She looked me up and down, giving a curt smirk from across the room. I didn't like her. Sookie was still talking to me about calendars. I could go up there and ask the woman why she was staring at Sookie so angrily. Perhaps I'd be kinder first though, tell her my name and stuff. Vampires don't shake hands, so I couldn't introduce myself the right way. She made her way over to Sookie, but Sookie insisted I didn't have to stay with her just because of this woman.

I left them to it, since it was clear this wasn't any of my business. Something tells me ole' Bill had something to do with it. Perhaps he'll burst in screaming 'Sookeh' any moment now. I loved his accent, it made everything sound dire and more dramatic than it was.

I sat with Godric, swinging my legs back and forth against the seat beside him. He was watching the humans as they chatted, a curious look in his eyes. I followed his gaze, preferring not to look at him as I spoke.

"Do you really miss being human, Godric?"

He shrugged carelessly, but he was thoughtful for a moment. "I do not remember what it feels like anymore. I do not think like a human, nor do I think like a vampire. I have no need to hunt them as I used to. What can I do but simply exist? That's all we vampires ever do, for no real reason."

That broke my heart and I hugged him. Some vampires seemed surprised, watching as Godric visibly tensed. He relaxed after a few seconds. He wasn't used to such close contact, that much was obvious. I wondered when was the last time he had received a hug. "I need you Godric. I love you, and so do a lot of other people. Why can't you see this?"

"For so long you and everyone here ask me that question Emilie," he smiled sadly once I had sat down. "But let me ask you to see things from my perspective. How would you feel, at two thousand years old with no one from your time who can relate, no one who can understand you? I do not know of another vampire from my time. There is a King who is older than me, but he does not believe in the same things I do, or so Eric tells me."

He had a small point that I wished I could ignore. Eric was one thousand years old, and he was still happy. Would that change in another thousand years? Would I lose him too, someday?

My Maker was the only vampire I knew who truly did care about the wellbeing of humans at his age. Most vampires were so convinced that we were superior, because we didn't die easily. We were faster and stronger than the humans, too. Yet I agreed with Godric. It didn't mean we could pretend to be any better.

"I wonder if vampires even have souls anymore," I muttered.

"You have a soul Emilie. That much I am sure of. You are far too kind for your own good," he whispered, looking at the ground. "I wish I had taken the same path when I was first turned, instead of looking for revenge on humans who had done nothing to me."

"The difference there is you had no Maker to show you the _right_ way! I have you. You're teaching me everything Godric. You can't just give up and hand me over to Eric as if I mean nothing!"

Bloody tears were threatening to spill over, and they only got worse as he smiled and pushed some hair behind my ear quietly. It made me forget about everyone else in this room. If he did go through with this suicide plan of his – and I refused to let him – I couldn't go on without him. My whole life revolved around him now.

"You mean everything to me Em," he whispered. "I just wish I could make you see things through my eyes."

With a deflated sigh, I leaned back and rubbed the bridge of my nose. Convincing Godric of his self-worth was near impossible, it seemed.

From here, I reliazed there was some tension in the house. It became quite obvious that something was happening, and even Godric sat up to find out why everyone was crowding into the living room area. The red-headed woman was still talking to Sookie, and let me tell you, Sookie looked _mad_. Very, very mad. Bill was there, obviously trying to defend himself.

Lauren? Or was it Lorena? I hadn't heard Bill correctly. When he said her name again, I realized it was Lorena. His ex-maker from what I gather. She and Sookie had been talking for quite a while. I hadn't realized I'd be gone for so long.

I stood to watch them, gliding over with concern for Sookie. This vampire Lorena looked tough. Sookie was a tough gal for sure, but she was up against a strong female vampire. I'm a young vampire, still considered a new born. However, if Lorena tried to attack Sookie – and it was beginning to look that way – I would most definitely step in. Sookie had done us a lot of favours here in Dallas. We owe her this much.

"You must've been worried sick, wonderin' where he was," Lorena smiled viciously. Her accent was the same as Bill's.

So. Vampire Bill wasn't being faithful. Unless Lorena's lying through her teeth, just to wind Sookie up. "I admit, it got a bit…_heated_. But you know how old lovers can get sometimes."

Lorena reached out to touch Bill's cheek with a look of hope in her eyes, though he himself looked utterly disgusted by her, taking a step back so he was out of her reach.

"Do _not_ touch him," Sookie growled, slapping Lorena's hand away. Uh-oh. I straightened up, mirroring Jason's tensed posture. Lorena could probably hurt me more than I could hurt her, but if it kept her off Sookie, it would be worth it. Sookie came here to help Godric, and I would always be grateful for that.

"My, we're feisty too," Lorena said, leaning dangerously close to our little telepath. I was worried for Sookie. Honestly, how much damage could a vampire as old as Lorena do before I got there?

Lorena laughed in Sookie's face. Sookie looked her up and down, looking at Lorena like she was trash. I couldn't help admiring Lorena's dress. The bitch had style, I'll give her that.

"You're no more than a blood-bag," Lorena snarled, still chuckling to herself. "You cannot win this."

"I've already won. Bill chose me. And yet, you still won't give up," Sookie said, a small smirk on her face. Lorena was furious. Good. She deserved this. "Don't you have any shame."

Bill tried to intervene. Stan caught my eye, watching the whole scene as well. He winked and grinned, giving me a thumbs up. Honestly, that cowboy had no shame, nor did he care much about Sookie and Bill's affairs. He had a smirk on his face. I frowned. Stan believed that Sookie had served her purpose, and that was it. We'd pay her, things would go back to normal.

Godric wouldn't want to meet the sun, and everything would be just dandy. If only.

"Sookie, stop!" Bill ordered.

"I'd listen to him. Run away, little girl," Lorena murmured, waving Sookie off as if she meant nothing. She turned to begin walking away, around the table to get closer to Bill. Stan looked a little disappointed. I had hoped that would be the end of it. "William and I love each other."

I raised an eyebrow as I watched. Bill was desperately trying to push Lorena away. "You've gone mad. Get out now!"

There's that accent I loved so much, making things more interesting.

"Maybe you do love him, who am I to guess?" Sookie snarled, stomping forward to Lorena. Lorena's eyes darted back from Bill to Sookie, only now noticing the growing amount of eyes on them. "But he doesn't love you. He never has and _that_, we both know."

Lorena's fangs came out. I took a step forward, worry taking over. "Take those words back, or they shall be your last!"

"We're leaving," Bill said, trying to pull Sookie away. It should've been easy for a vampire like him.

"Go find someone else you fucking bitch, you've lost this one!" Sookie yelled.

Lorena moved in a blur that the humans could not track. If I'd been human myself, my heart would've been thudding. Instead I made a quick step forward, planning to stop Lorena myself. Only there was a long '_whoosh_' beside me before Godric appeared, grabbing Lorena by the neck as she held Sookie against a table.

"Godric," I gasped. Even as a vampire, I hadn't been able to track him. That was amazing. I took a few steps forward at the same time as Eric, watching the fear in Lorena's eyes as she released Sookie.

I loved Godric, I couldn't deny that. Only it was rare for two vampires to be together, because it meant one always had a hold over the other. It must be even harder for a child and a maker, making things all the more complicated. This was a problem Bill and Lorena were expierencing right now. Godirc looked both beautiful and annoyed as he glared at Lorena.

"Retract. Your. Fangs."

Lorena was being held by her neck. Godric was much, much stronger than her, which she knew. She wouldn't have a chance fighting him off. She wouldn't have tried to either. This was his Nest, and his area.

"_Now_," Godric said when she hesitated. Lorena's fangs retracted with a click as her eyes trailed to meet Godric's. My eyes were wide as I watched Godric slowly push Lorena away from Sookie and Bill. "I neither know, nor care who you are. But in this area, and certainly in this nest, I am the authority."

When he said that, she looked to me for some reason. Lorena's eyes flickered as we gazed at one another. I doubt I was as threatening as Godric or Eric. Certainly not as scary right now. Maybe in a thousand years I could stand with a threatening stance like them. If I did attempt it, I'm sure she'd laugh her head off. Right now I just didn't have it in me. Lorena looked back at Godric.

"Do you understand?" he asked.

"Yes, Sheriff."

He let go of her, and she visibly relaxed, looking to the ground for a minute. Godric turned to Sookie.

"This human has proven herself to be a courageous, and loyal friend to our kind. And yet you treat her like a child does a dragonfly, pulling off wings for sport. No wonder they hate us."

That last sentence hurt me more than anything he had said all night. It made me feel ashamed to even be classed as a vampire.

"She provoked me," Lorena hissed, barely able to look Godric in the eyes.

I felt a surge of anger in our bond, and I glanced at Eric. He had felt it too, from the look he gave me. Godric bent down to look at Lorena, who inched away just a little. If you had blinked, you would've missed it. Or rather, if you were human you would have missed it.

"And _you_ provoke _me_. You disrupted the peace in my own home. I could snap you like a twig. And I haven't. Now why is that?"

Lorena took a moment to answer, but when she did her voice was defeated. "It's…your choice."

"Indeed it is," Godric agreed, the last bit of anger leaving him. "You're an old vampire, I can tell. You've had hundreds of years to better yourself, yet you haven't. You are still a savage. And I fear for all of us, humans _and_ vampires, if this behaviour persists."

Godric really did worry about both races. He spent nights wondering why God would put the vampires on this earth if all we did was cause pain. I thought that was a bit unfair. Humans preached that they were the better race, when they had had their fair share of wars and bloodshed.

"You," Godric said, addressing Bill. "You seem to know her."

"Yes Sheriff," Bill said, sounding ashamed of that fact.

"Escort her from the Nest."

Sookie let him go, though I think she was ready to burst into tears.

"I wish you out of my area before dawn," Godric told Lorena. Lorena looked ashamed of herself. To have been told off in such a public way was an embarrassment for anyone, both human and vampire. Lorena, however, was an old vampire. She would not live this down for a long time.

"That was…dramatic," Eric said with a smile once Lorena and Bill had left.

"Are you okay Sookie?" I asked, rubbing her shoulder sympathetically. Godric watched for a moment, before excusing himself. He still felt annoyed that someone had dared to disrupt the peace in his own home. Bad move on Lorena's part. I would follow Godric in just a moment.

She nodded, unable to find her voice for a second. "I'm fine Em."

"What a bitch," Eric smirked, referring to Lorena. "Looks like Bill has his hands full out there."

I shoved him. "Shut up Eric."

He seemed more interested in 'comforting' Sookie. She wasn't stupid however, she knew his intentions. Her brother was heading towards her anyway, so Eric would be ignored for now. I followed after Godric, trying to get past the crowd still standing around whispering about Lorena.

"I told you we were still brutal," a voice called.

I spun around, finding Godric was actually back in his chair. Isabel was beside him still looking a little sad, but her eyes were dry of any bloody tears. She seemed in better spirits, though she was probably hurting inside from the loss of Hugo, her lover.

"Godric, enough of that talk," Isabel murmured, her accent thicker than normal, putting an arm around my shoulder and smiling as if he were a child. "She's still a kid. She's learning."

"And I am trying to teach her," he replied coolly, not missing a beat.

I frowned. It seemed Godric couldn't take his mind off of his depressing thoughts. They consumed him to a point where he couldn't focus on anything else.

"G-Godric," Isabel said, the sudden silence too much for her. "I am sorry for-…"

"Do not apologize for Hugo," Godric said, raising a hand to stop her. "I do not blame you. You could not have known what he was planning."

"Thank you Sheriff," Isabel smiled sincerely. Only she still felt guilty, you could tell.

"Excuse me ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention," a voice called from the other side of the room. Isabel's hand fell from my shoulders, and she turned with a surprised look. None of us recognized this voice. Godric was surprised too. Isabel's heels tapped against the ground as she followed the voice. I stood beside her, leaning forward to watch a man in the living room.

Godric had his hand on the small of my back as he watched too. I expected him to know who this stranger was, but from the look on his face, he was as bewildered as us.

"My name is Luke MacDonald. I'm a member of the Fellowship of the Sun."

Stan stood slowly, growling. I couldn't blame him. My fangs were just itching to come out. I can't help that I hate the Fellowship, even if I try not to. I saw them as the people who took Godric away from me. I was willing to ignore the part where he went willingly…

"And I've a message for you all. From Reverend Steve Newlin."

He pulled down his jacket zipper slowly. I felt Godric's hand clench my back. He had faster reactions it seemed, than anyone else in the room. Everyone else was stood in one spot. Luke had bombs strapped to his body, the lights glowing red and green. Suddenly, all Hell broke loose.


	18. Lacrimosa

**A/N: **_Blah, blah, excuses, blah… ;D Enjoy! Thanks for all the reviews and alerts etc._

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**Chapter Seventeen –Lacrimosa **

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"_The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead.__"_  
**- ****Albert Einstein**

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The sound of humans screaming filled my ears, along with roars from the vampires. I didn't want to open my eyes and have to see the blood that I could smell so vividly. Being a newborn vampire meant I was so tempted, but thankfully the man lifting me up right now and forcing me to open my eyes could keep me grounded. No turning into an absolute monster for me tonight, or so I hoped. Godric's beautiful face stared back at me as I opened my eyes, wincing as a woman screamed from the other side of the room.

He had a bunch of cuts on his face, blood running down from his cheeks. I gasped. Godric…he had protected me from the blast, and I hadn't even realized it. I had been in such shock. I took his face in my hands, instantly worried. To my surprise, he smiled sadly and pulled my hands to my side.

"Are you okay, Emilie?"

I blinked. He was asking _me_ if I was okay, when sore-looking wounds were covering his pale face. They were healing of course, gone within seconds, but I had seen them. He must be insane to be asking me this, but I was touched by his concern. Out of sheer relief, I began kissing him.

Does that make me sound crazy? It was hardly a romantic moment, with humans dying all around us and debris falling from the ceiling, covering us in white powder, but I was so relieved I could only focus on him. What would I have done if that blast had been enough to kill him? Could a bomb have killed a vampire as old as Godric? Godric wanted to meet the Sun, and I had almost lost him tonight, too. He was kissing back, sweet and gentle like always, probably totally unaware of the turmoil in my mind as I tried not to think about how much I _needed_ him.

"Godric!" a voice called. I pulled away, trying to avoid Isabel's panicked gaze. Godric was the Sheriff, and his home had just been destroyed by humans, and here I was kissing him at such a bad time. He didn't seem to mind however. He had used his sleeve to wipe the blood from his face, so there wasn't much anymore.

I had blood on me myself – most of it wasn't mine. As a vampire, I was lucky not to be squeamish, though a few humans were vomiting at the sight of so much blood. There were wails, groans of pain, and a sweet scent of blood. I stopped breathing to block it out. I couldn't lose myself now.

"Who is dead?" Godric asked seriously, his eyes sad.

Humans and vampires alike had always been offered protection in our home, and now it was reduced to rubble. As Isabel listed out both humans vampires, I was shocked when she said Stan had died. I tried to remember where he had been in the room when it went off. It was like a blur, but I recalled that he had been sitting on the couch. He had been so close to the human. Tears stung at my eyes, but I refused to cry yet. If Godric could hold it together at a time like this, I could too.

No more cowboy jokes over a bottle of TruBlood, or debating on humanity with him. I believed, like my Maker, that humans and vampires could co-exist. He said I was a foolish newborn that didn't know any better. I shouldn't trust humans so much in his eyes. I still loved Stan anyway, no matter what his views were on humans. In fact, he was like an older cowboy brother. He had been there when I was turned. Now he was just..._gone._

"Emilie, gather any safe humans, bring them outside before I will join you. Isabel, you deal with the wounded. It is not exactly safe to leave Emilie alone with a bleeding human. No offense my Child," he smiled, but I could see how sad he was beneath it. I didn't need the bond to tell me that.

I nodded, knowing that of course he was right. Godric was usually always right and calm when everyone else was panicking and freaking out. Like me, for example. I did as he asked though, searching. I had gathered about three people who miraculously weren't hurt. Some had been in the kitchen getting refreshments when it went off, and they were completely confused as to what had happened. I helped them outside, and went back for more. Not a lot of people had survived.

I found Eric. I don't know if I had just been drawn to the scent of his blood, but it was very…_shocking_ to find Sookie sucking silver bullets from his chest. He had a very large smirk on his face, his fangs out. He spotted me and gave me a look that said 'If-you-mess-this-up-for-me-I-will-kill-you.' I backed off in time to see Bill coming towards us. Sookie had unfortunately fallen for Eric's trap, which was obvious.

Next I found Jason. He beamed at me. "Emilie, you're okay! Heck, your dress ain't even ripped is it?"

Trust Jason to be cheery and focus on my dress in a situation like this. He made me smile though. "Yes, but I'm more concerned about you."

He blushed, not realizing I meant 'you' as in all the humans who were more likely to die than the vamps. Jason gave me a nervous thumbs up. "Yeah, I'm good. Sookie's okay though ain't she? I saw her a few minutes ago..."

"Sookie's fine," I smiled, watching him scratch his hair and try to wipe some blood from his forehead. "Eric protected her."

"Is he like your brother or something?"

I frowned, pretending to be disgusted, but inwardly I was smiling. "Something like that. The man who set off the bomb, he was your friend, yes?"

Jason nodded, sadness filling his brown eyes. "Yeah, his name was Luke. That's all I have left of him now."

He motioned towards a detached hand in a pool of its own blood. Oh…_gross_. It was just lying there, the only piece left of a man who had been brainwashed by Steve Newlin. How I wished Eric had ripped Steve to shreds back in the sanctuary. Would this have happened anyway? Was it just Fate? A lot of humans would've been spared. Jason looked at the hand, and for a moment I thought he'd burst into tears, fall to his knees and cradle the hand to his chest or something from the look in his eyes. Instead, he straightened up and tried to stay very manly in front of me.

"Come on Jace, we need to go outside to the others. It isn't exactly safe in here."

Some powder fell from the ceiling, landing in his hair. He nodded. I led him outside, only to return back inside one last time. I looked in my bedroom, closing the door behind me, though nothing in it had been damaged. I sat on the bed for a moment, staring at the closed door.

How could humans hate us so much, when they didn't know most of us? The media made us out to be monsters, and sometimes I think that's exactly what we were. We take their _blood_, for God's sake. We kill them for sport. We could feed from them and not kill them, but that's not in our nature. Luckily with Godric as a Maker, I never had to lay a harmful hand on a human. Unlike Eric. Though he enjoyed cruelty for the most part. We drink their blood and kill them. That's hardly an innocent thing to do. And just because TruBlood existed, it didn't mean there wouldn't slip ups. Or vampires who didn't _want_ to follow the rules.

A stupid, bloody tear rolled down my cheek and I sniffled. Damn. I hated crying like this, feeling sorry for myself. At least I'm not like the humans who didn't make it. I'm lucky to be alive, aren't I? Or undead. Because I'm not _techically_ alive.

I flopped back on the bed, reveling in how bouncy and soft the sheets were. It was quiet outside now, almost as if nothing had ever happened. Stan would waltz in, ask me to come help him out with some stupid project. Isabel would nag at him. Godric would smile and watch us as if he had seen this a thousand times before. I thought of Lysus. What would they do with him? Of course Godric couldn't keep him in this area. The 'Magister' would take care of him.

I don't know if that meant he would die, or if he'd be let go after punishment. Eric thought Lysus should be defanged, and he'd starve slowly afterwards. The tears from my cheeks fell onto the white sheets, making tiny pinkish dots. Sighing, I wiped them away.

"Emilie come on, we're leaving!" a voice yelled. Eric. My bedroom door swung open, and he strolled in looking pleased with himself. The tears were gone I hoped. Eric said nothing, so I thought they must be.

"I can't believe you did that to Sookie," I said quietly. My voice sounded annoyingly hoarse from crying. Eric raised an eyebrow. Oh shoot.

He smirked. "You've been crying, haven't you? Don't cry for the _humans_ Emilie. And about Sookie...I'm quite proud. My plan actually worked."

Whether Eric admitted it or not, he did like humans. I know he did. I just hoped he didn't mention to Godric that I'd cried about this whole thing, because that made me feel plain weak. I didn't mean to let my emotions get the best of me, but I'd never seen so many dead bodies at once. Vampires always frowned upon emotions. We're supposed to be heartless, but I just can't be that. It was one of the things I missed about being human. It was over-whelming. I glanced around my room once last time.

"Where are we gonna go?"

Eric leaned against the doorframe. "Hotel Carmilla. It's vampire friendly. Now hurry up, you're keeping the vampires and the breathers waiting."

I hoped that I would always remember what it felt like to be human. Would I someday think myself better than them because I was a vampire? Eric said he didn't like emotions or feeling human at all, but I kind of missed it. Don't get me wrong, I loved my new life, being with Godric, having a Nest - albeit, a newly destroyed Nest - I still wondered what would have happened if I hadn't been turned.

I stood and walked out, gingerly stepping over dead bodies. The place was a mess. I found Godric outside eventually, and he took my hand, looking to the crowd of freezing humans and irritated vampires. Some had tried to go after the members of that idiotic church, but Godric didn't want that.

Some protested as Godric said we would head to the hotel immediately. They wanted to retaliate – and by that, they meant go to the Fellowship and murder every believer in that place. Burn it to the ground, and be done with it. As one young, spiky-haired female vampire so bluntly put it, "F**k the media. The humans deserve to die for this, Sheriff."

"Even after this, we will harm no humans," Godric sighed. "They did this out of fear. We will show them that our compassion is stronger."

A few of the younger vampires huffed in annoyance, but the ones who had known Godric for centuries nodded in agreement. He was their Leader, their Sheriff. He knew best, and they wouldn't go against him. They were all totally loyal. Like me. Everyone watched him, even Sookie who was wide-eyed in amazement. Bill had his arm around her, glaring at Eric who stood beside Godric and I, smirking to himself.

"The humans are merely misled," Godric continued. "I believe we can co-exist. It just takes time. As vampires, we have plenty of that."

He made it sound easy, as if the Fellowship had sent cookies instead of a suicide bomber.


End file.
